Jul 9, 2009 9:27 pm US/Central
State Lacks Tough Regulations For Cemeteries
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Illinois cemeteries are not regulated strongly enough, critics say.
CBS
So many bodies and it all played out over several years. It begs the question: How could it happen?
2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports.
It turns out there's practically no regulation in Illinois when it comes to cemetery conditions.
It's hard to believe, but state regulators say that other than checking out records, they literally have blinders on when it comes to checking out conditions at cemeteries. It's not their jurisdiction, they say.
Now the Cook County sheriff heading the investigation says it should be.
"A barber is more highly regulated than people who operate cemeteries," Sheriff Tom Dart said.
Dart was shocked to learn how little oversight there are for cemeteries in Illinois. So were we. Cemeteries are licensed by the Illinois comptroller and required to keep 15 percent of the cost of a grave in a trust fund for cemetery care. Documents show Burr Oak had almost $2 million in its trust funds.
The comptroller's office says the law only allows them to audit the cemetery care trust funds. Critics argue that when they come to inspect the books, they should take a look around. If they had, they might have found the desecrated graves at Burr Oak before the body count reached 300, and it's still climbing.
"How did it happen that no one knew what they were doing? I don't understand that, it has to be that someone knew what was going on," said Joyce Harris, whose son and mother-in-law are buried at the cemetery.
The Illinois comptroller's office is the only agency with any oversight responsibilities. It seven to 10 auditors for the 950 public cemeteries in Illinois.
"It's a very heart-breaking, eerie feeling to think that your loved ones are tossed in like a big dump," Harris said.
That's created another nightmare for law enforcement, because cemeteries are not required to send burial records to any government agency. And Burr Oak employees destroyed the records kept on site.
"There's nothing," Dart said.
Maynard Grossman, a board member for the Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association, said nothing more is needed.
"The law is there for any type of desecration to a cemetery," he said. "The law is there for any raiding of the trust funds, the law is there for fraud. I think we have a lot of laws, they just need to be enforced."
Talk about lack of enforcement. The
comptroller's office, which investigates misuse of burial trust funds, says it's had 20 complaints about Burr Oak but referred them to the cemetery.
So where can you get help?
Obviously, before buying a gravesite you should visit the cemetery and you may want to consider choosing one that is locally owned
You can file a complaint with the
Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association, or call the organization at (866) 758-7731.
Fraud complaints can be filed with the
Illinois Attorney General's Office, 1 (800) 386-5438, or the state's attorney's office in the county where the cemetery is located.
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