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SUBJECTS › PARKS AND RECREATION › Cemetery Administration
Updated 11/07

Cemetery Administration

There are 103 cemetery districts and 77 cities and towns that are known to operate municipal cemeteries in Washington. Many municipal cemeteries are operated by the city parks department and maintained by the department's grounds personnel. This page provides information about the statutes governing cemetery administration, sample ordinances, and information about historic preservation activities. Contact Page Editor

Contents

General Statutes

Municipal Cemeteries

Cemetery Districts

General Ordinance Provisions - Cemetery Board, Rules and Regulations, Fees

  • Auburn Municipal Code,  Ch. 2.72 - Cemetery
    Bellingham Municipal Code, Ch. 8.08  - Cemetery Operation
  • Burlington Municipal Code,  Ch. 2.68 - Cemetery
  • Edmonds Municipal Code,  Ch. 10.16 - Cemetery Board
  • Kirkland Municipal Code,  Ch. 5.36 - Cemetery Improvement Fund
  • Okanogan County Code,  Ch. 2.56 - Cemeteries and Cemetery Districts
  • Okanogan Municipal Code,  Ch. 3.16 - Cemetery Cumulative Reserve Fund
  • Okanogan Municipal Code,  Ch. 8.08 - Cemetery
  • Poulsbo Municipal Code,  Ch. 2.76 - City Cemetery
  • Vancouver Municipal Code,  Title 13  - Cemeteries
  • Walla Walla Municipal Code,  Ch. 2.76 - Mountain View Cemetery

Historic Preservation

Disposal of Remains of Indigent Persons

  • RCW 36.39.030 - Disposal of remains of indigent persons
  • RCW 73.08.070 - County burial of indigent deceased veterans
  • Auburn Municipal Code, Section 2.72.305 - Welfare burials
  • Okanogan Municipal Code,  8.08.030 - Potter's Field
  • Thurston County Code,  Ch. 2.116 - Disposal of Unclaimed Remains of Indigent Persons
  • Whatcom County Code, Ch. 2.06  - Article II - Disposition of Indigent Human Remains


Additional  Information Resources

Code Provisions Cited which Are Not Online

Okanogan Municipal Code Chapter 3.16 Cemetery Cumulative Reserve Fund

Sections:
3.16.010 Established - Purpose.
3.16.020 Deposits.
3.16.030 Appropriations.
3.16.040 Use of funds - As of 1956.
3.16.050 Use of funds - Generally.
3.16.060 Applicability of deposit and appropriation provisions.
3.16.070 Special cemetery improvement fund.

3.16.010 Established - Purpose.
There is created a fund to be known as the "Okanogan Cemetery Cumulative Reserve Fund" for the acquisition of water rights and for the construction, alteration, replacement and repair of an irrigation and sprinkling system for the Okanogan Cemetery. (Ord. 248 § 1, 1954)

3.16.020 Deposits.
All moneys budgeted, appropriated, donated or bequeathed for the purpose of the fund as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter or thereafter, as specified in this chapter, shall be deposited in the fund. (Ord. 248 § 2, 1954)

3.16.030 Appropriations.
For the purpose of accumulating the fund, the city council shall be, and it is authorized each year at the time of making and adoption of the annual budget of the city an item of moneys for the fund and to include such item in the annual budget, and to make a tax levy within the limits and as authorized by law for the item, the item and levy may be repeated from year to year until, in the judgment of the legislative authority of the city, the amount required for the specified purpose set forth in this chapter has been raised or accumulated. Any moneys in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not lapse nor shall the same be a surplus available or which may be used for any other purpose than that specified in this chapter, except as expressly provided in Chapter 60, Laws of 1941 of the state and amendments thereto. The city may also accept bequests or donations to be placed in the fund. (Ord. 248 § 3, 1954)

3.16.040 Use of funds - As of 1956.
Any money in the cemetery cumulative reserve fund, established by Ordinance No. 248, as of the date of passage of the ordinance codified in this section through OMC 3.16.070, shall be used only for the purposes stated in OMC 3.16.010 through 3.16.030. (Ord. 283 § 1, 1956)

3.16.050 Use of funds - Generally.
Any money placed in the cemetery cumulative reserve fund after the date of passage of the ordinance codified in OMC 3.16.040 through 3.16.070, may be used for the purposes stated in OMC 3.16.010 through 3.16.030, and in addition shall be used for additional development and improvement of the Okanogan City Cemetery. This may include, but not be restricted to, landscaping, grave markers, buildings, construction and improvement of streets in the cemetery, purchase of equipment, and such other items deemed necessary for the improvement and development of the Okanogan City Cemetery. (Ord. 283 § 2, 1956)

3.16.060 Applicability of deposit and appropriation provisions.
All provisions of OMC 3.16.020 and 3.16.030 shall apply to OMC 3.16.040 through 3.16.070. (Ord. 283 § 3, 1956)

3.16.070 Special cemetery improvement fund.
Expenditures from the cemetery cumulative reserve fund may be made by transfer to a special cemetery improvement fund, which is created. All costs and expenditures from the special cemetery improvement fund shall be paid by warrant and shall carry the name of the fund. This fund shall be budgeted and the budget shall be restricted to the expenditures for which the cemetery cumulative reserve fund is created. Any money in the special cemetery improvement fund at the end of a fiscal year shall revert to the cemetery cumulative reserve fund. (Ord. 283 § 4, 1956)

Okanogan Municipal Code Chapter 8.08 Cemetery

Sections:
8.08.010 Plat - Size of lots.
8.08.020 Reservation.
8.08.030 Potter's Field.
8.08.040 Management - Rules and regulations.
8.08.050 Price of graves - Half lots.
8.08.060 Liners - Charges.
8.08.070 Headstones.
8.08.080 Endowment fund.
8.08.090 Use of lots.
8.08.100 Deed issuance.
8.08.110 Resale.
8.08.120 One body and one urn (ashes) per lot, or one body per half lot.
8.08.130 Flower receptacles.

8.08.010 Plat - Size of lots.
The Revised Plat of the Okanogan City Cemetery, recorded in the office of the county auditor on January 11, 1955, is the official plat of the Okanogan Cemetery. The size of all grave lots shall be five feet by 10 feet except in Blocks 13, 13A, 13B, 33, 53, 73, 133, 153 and 173, in which blocks the size of each lot shall be four and two-thirds by 10 feet. (Ord. 415 § 1, 1971)

8.08.020 Reservation.
The following blocks in the cemetery are reserved from all sale, and if by inadvertence or otherwise any deed is executed for the same or any of the same, it shall be absolutely null and void: Blocks 41, 23, 163, 92, 93, 112, 113, 181, the east half of Block 32, the east half of Block 33, the east half of Block 40, the west half of Block 172, the west half of Block 173, and the west half of Block 180. (Ord. 415 § 2, 1971)

8.08.030 Potter's Field.
There is reserved and set aside as and for a "Potter's Field" a tract of ground 100 feet in length from north to south and 50 feet wide from east to west and located in the extreme southwest corner of the cemetery. In this tract the mayor or other duly authorized officer of the city may grant permission for the burial of bodies free of charge, but such permission shall not be construed as passing any title to the ground occupied by any such grave and the city may at any time move any bodies buried in Potter's Field to some other location in the cemetery. It is further provided that until further action by the council that all graves in Potter's Field shall be located in the southern half thereof. (Ord. 415 § 3, 1971)

8.08.040 Management - Rules and regulations.
That the general management of the city cemetery shall be retained by the city council, which may adopt by resolution such rules and regulations as may be found necessary to control the same. (Ord. 415 § 4, 1971)

8.08.050 Price of graves - Half lots.
A. All grave lots contained in Blocks A through J, and 1 through 20, and 24 through 180, and 183 through 189, and 203 through 209, shall be sold in accordance with a price established by ordinance, and that $20.00 of this price shall be placed in the cemetery endowment fund immediately upon receipt by the city clerk-treasurer.
B. Blocks 190, 191, 192, 210, 211, and 212 are reserved for the burial of infants and children under the age of four years, and urns or containers of ashes or remains. Half lots in such blocks may be sold for such burial at a price established by ordinance, of which the sum of $10.00 shall be placed in the cemetery endowment fund. (Ord. 762 § 5, 1992; Ord. 705 § 5, 1988; Ord. 544 § 2, 1978; Ord. 415 § 6, 1971)

8.08.060 Liners - Charges.
A. Concrete grave liners, or liners of equal or better quality, are required in all graves.
B. The charge to be made for opening and closing graves and setting headstones shall be established by ordinance. (Ord. 762 § 5, 1992; Ord. 705 § 5, 1988; Ord. 670 § 1, 1986; Ord. 544 § 3, 1978; Ord. 415 § 7, 1971)

8.08.070 Headstones.
All headstones, markers or borders shall be set at ground level and shall conform to the rules and regulations adopted by the council, and all graves shall have a level surface. (Ord. 415 § 8, 1971)

8.08.080 Endowment fund.
All money received for endowment care, before or after the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter, from any source, shall be placed in a fund to be known as the cemetery endowment fund, and the money so accumulated shall be invested from time to time as the amount in the fund justifies, and the income from such investments shall be applied to improvements and care of that portion of the cemetery set aside for endowment care. No portion of the principal amount in the cemetery endowment fund shall be used for any purpose other than investment. (Ord. 415 § 9, 1971)

8.08.090 Use of lots.
Lots in the Okanogan City Cemetery shall be sold only for burial of human remains or ashes. (Ord. 415 § 10(A), 1971)

8.08.100 Deed issuance.
Deeds shall be issued on request of lot purchasers in such form as the council may direct. (Ord. 415 § 10(B), 1971)

8.08.110 Resale.
No lot sold by the city shall be resold without the consent of the city council, and the city shall have the first option to repurchase any lot offered for sale at the original sale price thereof. Deeds issued for cemetery lots shall contain this restriction. (Ord. 415 § 10(C), 1971)

8.08.120 One body and one urn (ashes) per lot, or one body per half lot.
Only one body or one body and one urn (ashes) may be buried in any one full-size lot. Only one body or one urn (ashes) may be buried in a half lot sold for infant burial or interment of ashes. (Ord. 692 § 2, 1987; Ord. 415 § 10(D), 1971)

8.08.130 Flower receptacles.
Metal receptacles for cut flowers will be installed at the time of installation of markers. The charges for the receptacle will be established by ordinance. (Ord. 762 § 5, 1992; Ord. 705 § 3, 1988; Ord. 692 § 2, 1987)