Chapter 14
CEMETERIES*
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State law references: Cemeteries generally, 8 O.S. § 1 et seq.; discrimination in interment prohibited, 8 O.S. § 36; establishment of cemeteries, 8 O.S. § 191 et seq.; municipal authority to purchase and regulate cemeteries, 11 O.S. § 36-101; perpetual care funds, 8 O.S. § 161 et seq.; authority for municipal rules and regulations protecting and governing cemeteries, 11 O.S. § 26-105; authority for municipality to improve cemetery lands, 11 O.S. § 26-102.
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Article I.
In General
Sec. 14-1. Police power of board of commissioners to enforce chapter.
Secs. 14-2– 14-20. Reserved.
Article II.
Ridgelawn Cemetery
Division 1.
Generally
Sec. 14-21. Governing board; duties.
Sec. 14-22. Description.
Sec. 14-23. Land platted into lots.
Sec. 14-24. Potters' field area to be established for burial of indigents.
Sec. 14-25. Cemetery care fund.
Sec. 14-26. Previous acts; ratified.
Secs. 14-27– 14-55. Reserved.
Division 2.
Sexton
Sec. 14-56. Office created.
Sec. 14-57. Monthly report to city manager.
Sec. 14-58. Duties.
Secs. 14-59– 14-89. Reserved.
Division 3.
Sale and Purchase of Cemetery Lots
Sec. 14-90. Procedure for lot purchase.
Sec. 14-91. Deed for purchased lots; burial rights not transferable.
Sec. 14-92. Lot purchase limitation.
Sec. 14-93. Resale of lots prohibited except by city; conditions of repurchase by city.
Secs. 14-94– 14-114. Reserved.
Division 4.
Grave Creation and Maintenance
Sec. 14-115. Digging and required depth of graves.
Sec. 14-116. Fees for opening and closing graves.
Sec. 14-117. Disinterment and removal.
Sec. 14-118. Grave mounds; sodding; curbing and fencing; maintenance by city.
Sec. 14-119. Grave monuments and other marking structures.
Sec. 14-120. Board permission required for planting vegetation.
Sec. 14-121. Coping, walk or wall not to be installed except by city.
Secs. 14-122– 14-140. Reserved.
Division 5.
Cemetery Use
Sec. 14-141. Dogs prohibited in cemetery.
ARTICLE I.
IN GENERAL
Sec. 14-1. Police power of board of commissioners to enforce chapter.
Each member of the city commissioners and the mayor and the sexton of the cemetery shall have full police power to enforce the provisions of this chapter and any regulations adopted by the city commissioners.
(Code 2000, § 11-410)
Secs. 14-2– 14-20. Reserved.
ARTICLE II.
RIDGELAWN CEMETERY
DIVISION 1.
GENERALLY
Sec. 14-21. Governing board; duties.
The city commissioners and the mayor shall have full and complete control of Ridgelawn Cemetery and shall have full power to adopt and enforce such rules and regulations for the maintenance and care of the cemetery as to them shall seem necessary and proper and to employ such persons as may be necessary and shall be guided by the provisions of this chapter.
(Code 2000, § 11-403)
Sec. 14-22. Description.
The cemetery for the city, Ridgelawn Cemetery, is hereby described as follows:
The Northwest Quarter of the Northeast Quarter of the Northwest Quarter Section 30, Township 22 North, Range 14 East, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and West Half of the Northeast Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of Section 30, Township 22 North, Range 14 East, Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
(Code 2000, § 11-401)
State law references: Establishment of cemeteries, 9 O.S. § 181 et seq.
Sec. 14-23. Land platted into lots.
It is the duty of the city to:
(1) Have the cemetery land surveyed and laid out into burial lots, parks, alleys and driveways;
(2) Have a plat of the same made, showing numbers of all burial lots, parks, alleys and driveways;
(3) Have the cemetery land fenced with substantial fence;
(4) Provide a gateway for entering the cemetery and to keep the same locked; and
(5) Mark all lots that have been heretofore sold, and designate a "potters' field" in the cemetery.
(Code 2000, § 11-402)
Sec. 14-24. Potters' field area to be established for burial of indigents.
It is the duty of the city commissioners and the mayor to set apart a certain portion of the city cemetery ground for the use and benefit of the poor, which shall be known as "the potters' field," where all persons who are unable to purchase lots shall have the right to inter their dead free of charge. All persons who wish to inter their dead in the potters' field shall first procure a permit from the city clerk, which permit shall give them the right to bury in the potters' field only.
(Code 2000, § 11-411)
State law references: Duty of burial of indigents, 21 O.S. § 1158.
Sec. 14-25. Cemetery care fund.
A minimum of 15 percent of the total fees collected by the cemetery for spaces, opening and closing, disinterment, and cremations will be set aside as a permanent care fund to be known as the "Cemetery Care Fund." This fund shall be invested in the manner provided by law for the investment of municipal funds. One hundred percent of the interest earned on these investments may be used for purchasing lands for cemetery expansion, making necessary capital improvements, improving, caring for, and embellishing the lots, walks, drives, parks, and other necessary improvements on the cemetery.
(Code 2000, § 11-412; Ord. No. 585, 7-13-1990; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995)
State law references: Perpetual care funds, 8 O.S. § 161 et seq.
Sec. 14-26. Previous acts; ratified.
All acts of whatsoever nature or kind which have been hereto performed by the city commissioners and mayor, heretofore, appointed by the mayor of the incorporated city, or the city pertaining to the selection, purchase, surveying, fencing and platting the cemetery ground, or in any other way appertaining to the same, is hereby ratified.
(Code 2000, § 11-413)
Secs. 14-27– 14-55. Reserved.
DIVISION 2.
SEXTON
Sec. 14-56. Office created.
The city has created the office of cemetery sexton. The sexton shall at all times be under the direction of the city commissioners and mayor of the city.
(Code 2000, § 11-416)
Sec. 14-57. Monthly report to city manager.
The sexton shall make a complete report to the city manager at the end of each month of burials and work done.
(Code 2000, § 11-416)
Sec. 14-58. Duties.
The sexton shall keep the cemetery in good state of repair with materials to be furnished by the city. He shall keep the weeds mowed within the cemetery fence. It shall be his duty to dig all graves and fill up the same at the time of burial. He shall perform such other duties as the city commissioners and mayor of the city may from time to time direct.
(Code 2000, § 11-417)
Secs. 14-59– 14-89. Reserved.
DIVISION 3.
SALE AND PURCHASE OF CEMETERY LOTS
Sec. 14-90. Procedure for lot purchase.
(a) Persons desiring to acquire lots in the cemetery, or to have interments made upon lots already owned, shall obtain from the sexton the correct description and cost of such lot or grave and made application for lot purchase to the city clerk.
(b) Payment of the cost of the lot or grave, in the amount provided in the city fee schedule, shall be made to the office of the city clerk, whereupon the city clerk shall issue receipts in triplicate for such payment. The original receipt shall be given to the person purchasing any lot, the duplicate of the receipt shall be given to the sexton in charge of the cemetery and the triplicate of the receipt shall be retained by the city clerk.
(c) No lot or parcel of lot or any interest therein shall be sold to any person, other than the city, until provisions of this section shall have been complied with and no interment shall be made by any person until the lot wherein the interment is to be made shall be paid for in full in cash.
(Code 2000, § 11-418; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995; Ord. No. 813, § 1(11-405(f)), 7-21-2008)
Sec. 14-91. Deed for purchased lots; burial rights not transferable.
Any person holding a receipt for the payment of any lot in the cemetery shall be entitled to a deed to the lot. It is the duty of the mayor of the city to execute the deed and then have the same attested by the clerk of the city. However, all deeds when executed shall be construed as granting right only to use the lots for burial purposes for the interment of the grantee, his relatives, descendants and such other persons as may be permitted by the city commissioners and mayor or the sexton of the cemetery. Such burial right shall not be transferable by either voluntary or involuntary conveyance, nor shall it be passed, devised or descend to any other personwithout the express written consent of the mayor and board of commissioners.
(Code 2000, § 11-418; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995)
Sec. 14-92. Lot purchase limitation.
A resident may purchase no more than eight spaces at the resident price.
(Code 2000, § 11-418; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995)
Sec. 14-93. Resale of lots prohibited except by city; conditions of repurchase by city.
No owner of any lot parcel or lot shall sell the whole or any part thereof; provided the city by its mayor and board of commissioners may repurchase the lot or parcel of lot. Whenever the mayor and board of commissioners shall, after investigation of a particular case, agree to repurchase a lot formerly sold, no money shall be repaid to the original purchaser until the lot has been resold by the city, and such original purchaser shall receive upon the reconveyance by him of the lot only the amount of money which shall be received from such resale; provided, that no lot upon which interment has been made shall ever be repurchased by the city.
(Code 2000, § 11-404; Ord. No. 585, 7-13-1990; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995; Ord. No. 813, § 1(11-405(f)), 7-21-2008)
Secs. 14-94– 14-114. Reserved.
DIVISION 4.
GRAVE CREATION AND MAINTENANCE
Sec. 14-115. Digging and required depth of graves.
All graves shall be dug by workers in the employ of the city. The graves of adults must be at least 4 1/2 feet deep and those of children under 15 years of age not less than four feet deep. In cases of contagious diseases, the mayor and city commissioners shall have power to prescribe the kind of casket and depth of the grave. The provisions of this section shall not apply to burial of cremated remains.
(Code 2000, § 11-405; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995; Ord. No. 813, § 1(11-405(d)), 7-21-2008)
Sec. 14-116. Fees for opening and closing graves.
The fees for opening and closing graves shall be as provided in the city fee schedule.
(Code 2000, § 11-405; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995; Ord. No. 813, § 1(11-405(d)), 7-21-2008)
Sec. 14-117. Disinterment and removal.
Disinterment and removal of a body shall not be made without the permission of the superintendent of the cemetery, the lot owner, or the next of kin of the deceased. Graves shall not be opened for inspection except for official investigation.
(Code 2000, § 11-415; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995)
State law references: Unlawful removal of dead body, 21 O.S. § 1161; disinterment permits, 63 O.S. § 1-319; exhumation of bodies, 63 O.S. § 946.
Sec. 14-118. Grave mounds; sodding; curbing and fencing; maintenance by city.
All graves shall be sodded over (the mounds to be not over four inches in the center, with rounded sides and end), by the city at its own expense and thereafter the graves shall be cared for by the city. No curbing or fence shall be allowed around or upon any grave, nor shall any lot be raised except as provided in this section.
(Code 2000, § 11-406)
Sec. 14-119. Grave monuments and other marking structures.
The proprietor of each lot shall have the right to erect proper bronze or stone monuments or sepulchral structures. No mausoleum or structure of unusual size shall be constructed in the cemetery without the written recommendation therefor of the mayor and city commissioners expressly granting permission for the erection of such structure. A monument setting permit fee in the amount established in the city fee schedule will be collected for each monument. The permit will be issued at city hall at the approval of the sexton.
(Code 2000, § 11-408; Ord. No. 642, 2-6-1995)
Sec. 14-120. Board permission required for planting vegetation.
No person shall plant any trees, shrubbery, flowers or plants of any description within the cemetery except by the direction of the mayor and city commissioners.
(Code 2000, § 11-407)
Sec. 14-121. Coping, walk or wall not to be installed except by city.
It is unlawful for any person to install any coping, walk or wall in Ridgelawn Cemetery; however, this prohibition will not apply to the city where such improvements are necessary for the public good in maintaining the cemetery.
(Code 2000, § 11-414)
Secs. 14-122– 14-140. Reserved.
DIVISION 5.
CEMETERY USE
Sec. 14-141. Dogs prohibited in cemetery.
No dogs shall be allowed within the cemetery grounds.
(Code 2000, § 11-409)