Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A turf war was brewing Tuesday over the grave desecration scandal at Burr Oak Cemetery. Members of a state task force said the current system to regulate cemeteries is not working and they essentially want to give more power to the governor.

But as CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, that recommendation doesn't please State Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Dan Hynes.

Gov. Pat Quinn said he would not criticize Hynes Tuesday for the role his office played in overseeing cemeteries such as Burr Oak. Hynes is challenging Quinn in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor.

"Don't put words in my mouth, alright? I don't wanna make this political," Quinn said.

While the final report of the governor's Cemetery Oversight Task Force did not criticize Hynes, either, several individual members claimed the State Comptroller could have acted years ago to stop the desecration of graves at Burr Oak.

State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago)said, "Why does he have a staff of 20 or more in that respective division?" Dunkin said Hynes could have prevented the scandal at Burr Oak.

"Absolutely, absolutely; if they had just responded to half of the calls, of the 22 (complaint) calls over the last year and a half," Dunkin said

The Illinois Cemetery Oversight Task Force was formed after the scandal emerged at Burr Oak Cemetery, but the group has been investigating problems with cemeteries all over the state. Officials presented those results to Quinn Tuesday morning.

At a news conference Tuesday, Quinn called the existing regulatory setup a "crazy quilt" of rules and offices that doesn't work.

Hynes has said that criticism of his office over Burr Oak was baseless, arguing that the comptroller had neither the staff nor the authority to stop any such abuses.

Hynes declined to talk on camera Tuesday, but he has argued that existing state law gives no one sufficient authority to regulate for-profit cemeteries such as Burr Oak.

"We must seize this opportunity to finally bring much-needed oversight for which I have been fighting for many years," Hynes said in a written statement. "I appreciate that the task force is recommending many of the reforms that I've long advocated."

A woman whose family cannot locate the graves of two relatives buried at Burr Oak said she did not accept Hynes's explanation.

"I'm just very disappointed, very disappointed" said Zenobia Johnson-Black, vice-president of the Burr Oak Cemetery Historical Society. "I don't think anybody could have prevented it. You can't prevent people being crooks. That's why we have laws and jails.

"But I think that his office could have done a better job looking at the cemetery; just inspecting it visually. They didn't even have to walk out, get out of the car very far to see the disruption in that place," Johnson-Black said.

The governor said reforms should focus on for-profit cemeteries, such as Burr Oak, but said even the giant Catholic cemetery system should be subject to review.
Among the recommendations from the task force:

     • Each death certificate should also note where the body of the deceased is buried, including cemetery and exact grave location.
     • Consolidate regulatory authority of funeral and burial practices into the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
     • Pass the Cemetery Oversight Act, allowing only qualified persons to own, operate or work in a cemetery. It includes the recommendation that no person should be allowed to operate a cemetery unless they receive a license to act as a cemetery manager. The Task Force also recommends an applicant for such a license be required to take an examination.
     • Amend and consolidate existing statutes to strengthen industry regulation and enforcement.
     • Prohibit cemetery operators and funeral directors from requiring that services and merchandise be paid for only in cash. Other forms of direct payment should be permitted, such as cashiers checks, money orders and credit cards.
     • Enable the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to administer the program currently provided for under the Cemetery Care Act for the purpose of cleaning up abandoned or neglected cemeteries.

The hope was that with new policies in place, it would prevent another cemetery scandal form ever happening in Illinois.

"We can make sure that there's documentation as to who is buried in what spot in what cemetery. That's like having a deed to a property, you know, as a property description," said Johnson-Black. "So we want to have some kind of way to track whether people are in where they're supposed to be, in graves where they're supposed to be. We know that cemeteries are running out of space so that this is inclined to happen in the future. We want to make sure that doesn't happen."

Quinn formed the Cemetery Oversight Task Force in the wake of the scandal at Burr Oak. Four cemetery workers have pleaded not guilty to charges they ransacked graves and re-sold occupied burial sites in a scheme to make money.

The task force has been interviewing families with loved ones buried at Burr Oak as well as funeral directors and consumers with complaints at other cemeteries. The goal of the nine-member panel was to develop new policies, rules and regulations to make sure that all the deceased in Illinois are treated with proper respect.
Meantime, two of the defendants in the case, Terrence and Keith Nicks, posted bond Tuesday morning and were released from Cook County Jail. Maurice Dailey, 69, of Robbins was already free on bail. Carolyn Towns, 49, was being held in the jail.

They are accused of digging up bodies and dumping them behind the Alsip cemetery, and jamming caskets on top of each other.

Towns is the accused leader alleged to have pocketed thousands of dollars over at least five years from reselling graves. Their next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery, CBS 2's Susan Carlson, the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Editor's Picks

• Top 10 Smartest And Dumbest Dog Breeds
• World's Most Useless Facts
• Hollywood's Hottest New Starlets
• Who Is My Celebrity Parent?
• Short Subjects: Hollywood's Tiny Stars