Title HS, Health and Safety Code

Sec. 713.005. DEPOSIT RECORDS. (a) A municipality that acts as a trustee under this subchapter shall maintain a permanent, well-bound record book including, for each deposit made: (1) the name of the depositor, listed in alphabetical order; (2) the purpose and amount of the depos…

Sec. 713.006. TAX. (a) A municipality acting as a trustee for a cemetery may include in the municipality's annual budget an amount considered necessary for cemetery maintenance. (b) The municipality may impose a tax on all property in the municipality in an amount not exceeding f…

Sec. 713.007. APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE. The district judge of the county in which the cemetery is located shall appoint a suitable successor or trustee to faithfully execute a trust in accordance with this subchapter if the municipality renounces a trust assumed under thi…

Sec. 713.008. TERMINATION OF MUNICIPAL TRUST BY CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies to the governing body of a municipality in a county with a population of: (1) at least 128,000 but not more than 300,000; or (2) at least 20,000 but not more than 21,000. (b) The gove…

Sec. 713.009. LOCAL POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF UNKEPT OR ABANDONED CEMETERY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (i), a municipality with a cemetery inside the municipality's boundaries or extraterritorial jurisdiction may, by resolution, take possession and control of the cemete…

Sec. 713.010. PRIVATE CARE OF GRAVES. This subchapter does not affect the right of a person who has an interest in a grave or burial lot, or who is related within the fifth degree by affinity or consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to, or is a direct d…

Sec. 713.011. MAINTENANCE OF MUNICIPAL CEMETERIES. (a) A municipality that operates or has jurisdiction over a public cemetery shall maintain the cemetery in a condition that does not endanger the public health, safety, comfort, or welfare. (b) A municipality's responsibility to …

Sec. 713.012. ABANDONED PLOTS IN CERTAIN CEMETERIES IN MUNICIPAL POSSESSION AND CONTROL. (a) This section applies only to a cemetery for which the governing body of a municipality by official action issues the findings described by Section 713.009(f-1). (b) After notice provided …

Sec. 713.013. APPEAL OF FINDING OF ABANDONMENT. (a) Not later than the 10th day after the date the governing body of a municipality declares a plot abandoned under Section 713.012, a person aggrieved by the declaration or a taxpayer residing in the municipality may file with a di…

Sec. 713.021. COUNTY TRUST FOR CEMETERY. A commissioners court by resolution may establish a perpetual trust fund to provide maintenance for a neglected or unkept public or private cemetery in the county. The commissioners court shall appoint the county judge as trustee for the f…

Sec. 713.022. GIFTS FOR MAINTENANCE OF CEMETERY. (a) A trustee for a county perpetual trust fund may adopt reasonable rules to receive a gift or grant from any source and to determine the amount necessary for permanent maintenance of the cemetery. (b) A person who is interested i…

Sec. 713.023. USE OF FUNDS. (a) The trustee may invest the fund in interest-bearing bonds or federal, state, or local government securities. (b) The principal of the fund must be kept intact as a permanent principal trust fund. (c) The income or revenue of the fund may be used on…

Sec. 713.024. APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE. If a county judge who is acting as a trustee under this subchapter vacates the office or renounces the trust, the district judge shall appoint a person, other than a county commissioner, as successor trustee to execute the trust. Ac…

Sec. 713.025. PRIVATE CARE OF GRAVES. This subchapter does not affect the right of a person to maintain a grave or burial lot in a cemetery if the person: (1) has an interest in the grave or burial lot; or (2) is related within the fifth degree by affinity or consanguinity, as de…

Sec. 713.026. USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND PROPERTY PROHIBITED; EXCEPTIONS. (a) Except as provided by Sections 713.027, 713.0271, and 713.028, a trustee of a fund established under this subchapter or a member of the commissioners court or any other elected county officer may not pay o…

Sec. 713.027. CEMETERY OWNED BY COUNTY OF 8,200 OR LESS. (a) A county with a population of 8,200 or less may own, operate, and maintain a cemetery and sell the right of burial in the cemetery. (b) The sale of the right of burial is exempt from the requirements of Sections 263.001…

Sec. 713.0271. CEMETERY OWNED BY CERTAIN COUNTIES. A county with a population of more than 800,000 that borders a county with a population of more than 3.3 million may own, operate, and maintain a cemetery. Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 492 (H.B. 4179), Sec. 1, eff. Ju…

Sec. 713.028. COUNTY CARE OF CEMETERY OLDER THAN 50 YEARS. (a) For purposes of historical preservation or public health, safety, or welfare, a commissioners court may use public funds, county employees, county inmate labor as provided by Article 43.10, Code of Criminal Procedure,…

Sec. 713.029. COUNTY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE BURIAL GROUNDS FOR VETERANS. (a) A commissioners court may purchase burial grounds to be used exclusively for the burial of honorably discharged persons who: (1) have served in the United States armed forces during a war in which the Uni…