HB 114/LM/CI (BR 251) - R. Meeks
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 landowner 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 Vital Statistics Branch of the Department for Public Health 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; require 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 a violator to reimburse the Commonwealth for its costs in properly disposing of the human remains and the landowner 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 of the human remains.
(Prefiled by the sponsor(s).)
Jan 6-introduced in House
Jan 7-to Judiciary (H)
