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HB295

08RS

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Includes opposite chamber sponsors where requested by primary sponsors of substantially similar bills in both chambers and jointly approved by the Committee on Committees of both chambers. Opposite chamber sponsors are represented in italics.


HB 295/LM/CI (BR 1276) - R. Meeks, R. Crimm

     AN ACT relating to human remains and burial objects.
     Create new sections of KRS Chapter 171 to require persons excavating archaeological sites on private property to obtain a permit from the Kentucky Heritage Council; establish a process by which the landowner shall provide reasonable access to the cemeteries to the descendants and relatives of those buried within; place responsibility on the land owner to maintain the cemetery's integrity; make denial of access to the cemetery a violation; set out a process by which the state shall dispose of human remains within its custody and control; permit a legally recognized tribal government to conduct reinterment ceremonies for Native Americans; require a person who encounters or accidentally disturbs human remains to immediately cease disturbing the ground in the area of the human remains; place responsibility of encountered or accidentally discovered human remains on the cemetery owner or the state and require responsible party to dispose of; require persons wishing to possess human remains or burial objects to obtain a permit from the Office of Vital Statistics and limit possession to teaching, medical, scientific, or training purposes; make unlawful possession of human remains or burial objects a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class D felony for each subsequent offense; make a person who unlawfully possesses human remains or burial objects to reimburse the state for the cost of properly disposing of the remains and objects; prohibit the excavation of human remains and burial objects; amend KRS 525.105 to delete the requirement that desecration of a venerated object is shown only when one's purpose is commercial gain or exploitation; require that the tools, implements, or vehicles used in desecrating human objects be seized and sold with profits from such sale going to the council; require violator to reimburse the Commonwealth for its costs in properly disposing the human remains and the land owner for damage to the property; amend KRS 525.120 to increase penalty for abuse of a corpse from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony; require human remains possessed or so used to be seized and forfeited to the state; require the violator to reimburse the Commonwealth for the cost of properly disposing the human remains.

     Jan 15-introduced in House
     Jan 17-to Local Government (H)
     Feb 29-posted in committee


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