Title 19, Health

The provisions of this subchapter shall apply to all persons engaged in the business of operating a cemetery as defined herein, except cemeteries owned and operated by governmental agencies or churches.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Persons” means an individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, or association.(2) “Human remains” or “remains” means the bodies of deceased persons, and includes the bodies in any stage of decomposition, and cremated remains.(3) “Cemete…

(a) No person shall engage in the business of operating a cemetery company except as authorized by this subchapter, and without first obtaining a license from the Commissioner. (b) A written application for authority to organize a cemetery shall be filed with the Commissioner and…

In any case where a person, a group of persons, or a corporation proposes to purchase or acquire control of an existing cemetery company either by purchasing the outstanding capital stock of any cemetery company, or the interest of the owner or owners, and thereby to change the c…

(a) In addition to other powers conferred by this subchapter, the Commissioner shall have the power to:(1) Formulate and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations governing the operation of cemetery companies doing business in the Virgin Islands, which shall have the force and …

A record shall be kept of every burial in the cemetery of a cemetery company, showing the date of burial, name of the person buried, together with lot, plot, and space in which such burial was made therein. All sales, trust fund, accounting records, and all other accounting recor…

(1) Upon receipt of application for authority under sections 2008 and 2009 of this subchapter, the Commissioner shall investigate the following:(1) Character, reputation, financial standing, business qualifications, and motives of the proponents.(2) The need for a cemetery in the…

If the Commissioner finds that the proposed cemetery company has in good faith complied with all lawful requirements, he shall, within thirty (30) days, issue a certificate of authorization to transact a cemetery business. This authorization shall be valid for a period of six (6)…

No cemetery company shall be permitted to establish, or operate if already established, a cemetery without providing for the future care and maintenance of such cemetery, for which a trust fund shall be established, to be known as the “care and maintenance trust fund of (here use…

At the time of making a sale or receiving the initial deposit hereunder, the cemetery company shall deliver to the person to whom such sale is made, or who makes such deposit, an instrument in writing which shall specifically state that the net income of the care and maintenance …

(a) There shall be set aside and deposited in the care and maintenance trust fund by the cemetery company, the following percentages for all burial rights sold, which percentage shall apply to:(1) All such payments received until such time as the amount of the corpus of such trus…

Within ninety (90) days after the end of the calendar or fiscal year of the cemetery company, the trustee shall furnish adequate financial reports with respect to the care fund on forms provided by the Commissioner; Provided, however, the Commissioner may require the trustee to m…

The Commissioner shall require each cemetery company to submit a report of its condition, on forms provided by the Commissioner, as of such date as he may fix, at least once each calendar or fiscal year, or as often as he may order, and such report shall be submitted within ninet…

The Commissioner shall collect from every cemetery company operating under the provisions of this chapter, an annual license fee based on receipts from the sale of cemetery spaces during the preceding twelve month fiscal period. On receipts under $25,000 the fee shall be $50 per …

No license issued under section 2019 of this subchapter shall be transferable or assignable and no licensee shall develop or operate any cemetery authorized by this subchapter under any name or at any location other than that contained in the application for such license.

(a) Each licensee shall set aside a minimum of five (5) acres of land for use by said licensee as a cemetery, and shall not sell, mortgage, lease or encumber the same without prior written approval of the Commissioner. (b) The fee simple title, or lesser estate, in any lands owne…

(a) A bond shall be required of every licensee after ninety (90) days under the following circumstances:(1) Where, after an official examination of said licensee, a deficit in the care and maintenance trust fund, as required by section 2014 of this subchapter was established by t…

The surety bond required by all licensees under this subchapter shall be in the following form:“Territory of the Virgin Islands” KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That of the Virgin Islands, having a place of business in , Virgin Islands, as principal, and the of , and authorized t…

Any person violating a provision of the subchapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or both, such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of th…