CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

                   SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1951

                        56th Legislature

                      1999 Regular Session

Passed by the House April 19, 1999   Yeas 97   Nays 0 Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 6, 1999   Yeas 42   Nays 0	CERTIFICATE We, Dean R. Foster and Timothy A. Martin, Co-Chief Clerks of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1951  as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.                           Chief Clerk                           Chief Clerk
President of the Senate

Approved Place Style On Codes above, and Style Off Codes below.	FILED
Governor of the State of Washington	Secretary of State                   State of Washington

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                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1951

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                     AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

             Passed Legislature - 1999 Regular Session

State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By House Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives Lantz, DeBolt, Miloscia, McDonald, Stensen and Santos)

Read first time 02/26/1999.

Protecting remains in abandoned cemeteries.    

    AN ACT Relating to abandoned cemeteries; amending RCW 68.24.090 and 68.60.020; and adding a new section to chapter 65.04 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 65.04 RCW to read as follows:

    Any person who has knowledge of the existence of any cemetery, abandoned cemetery, historical cemetery, or historic grave that has not been dedicated pursuant to RCW 68.24.010 through 68.24.040 may file for recording, in the county in which the cemetery or grave is located, a notice of abandoned cemetery document providing notice of the existence of the cemetery or grave.  Such document shall contain the legal description of the property, the approximate location of the cemetery or grave within the property, the name of the owner or reputed owner of the property, and the assessor's tax parcel or account number.  The auditor or recording officer shall index the document to the names of the property owner and the person executing the document.

    Sec. 2.  RCW 68.24.090 and 1987 c 331 s 34 are each amended to read as follows:

    Property dedicated to cemetery purposes shall be held and used exclusively for cemetery purposes, unless and until the dedication is removed from all or any part of it by an order and decree of the superior court of the county in which the property is situated, in a proceeding brought by the cemetery authority for that purpose and upon notice of hearing and proof satisfactory to the court:

    (1) That no interments were made in or that all interments have been removed from that portion of the property from which dedication is sought to be removed.

    (2) That the portion of the property from which dedication is sought to be removed is not being used for interment of human remains.

    (3) That notice of the proposed removal of dedication has been given in writing to both the cemetery board ((in writing)) and the office of archaeology and historic preservation.  This notice must be given at least sixty days before filing the proceedings in superior court.  The notice of the proposed removal of dedication shall be recorded with the auditor or recording officer of the county where the cemetery is located at least sixty days before filing the proceedings in superior court.

    Sec. 3.  RCW 68.60.020 and 1990 c 92 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

    Any cemetery, abandoned cemetery, historical cemetery, or historic grave that has not been dedicated pursuant to RCW 68.24.030 and 68.24.040 shall be considered permanently dedicated and subject to RCW 68.24.070.  Removal of dedication may only be made pursuant to RCW 68.24.090 and 68.24.100.

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