820 ILCS 135

in effect

820 ILCS 135/0.01

(820 ILCS 135/0.01) (from Ch. 21, par. 100) Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Burial Rights Act. (Source: P.A. 86-1324; 87-1174.)

(820 ILCS 135/1) (from Ch. 21, par. 101) Sec. 1. (a) Every contract, agreement or understanding between a cemetery authority and a cemetery workers' association which totally prohibits burials of human remains on Sundays or legal holidays shall be deemed to be void as against public policy and wholly unenforceable. (b) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a cemetery authority and a cemetery workers' association from entering into a contract, agreement or understanding which limits Sunday or holiday burials of human remains to decedents who were members of religious sects whose tenets or beliefs require burials within a specified period of time and whose deaths occurred at such times as to necessitate Sunday or holiday burials. Such contract, agreement or understanding may provide that a funeral director notify the cemetery authority within a reasonable time when a Sunday or holiday burial is necessitated by reason of the decedent's religious tenets or beliefs. (c) It shall be unlawful for any person to restrain, prohibit or interfere with the burial of a decedent whose time of death and religious tenets or beliefs necessitate burial on a Sunday or legal holiday. (d) A violation of this Section is a Class A misdemeanor. (e) For the purposes of this Act, "cemetery authority" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Section 2 of the Cemetery Care Act or the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable; and "cemetery workers' association" means an organization of workers who are employed by cemetery authorities to perform the task of burying human remains or transporting remains to cemeteries or other places of interment, and who join together for collective bargaining purposes or to negotiate terms and conditions of employment. (Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)

820 ILCS 135/2

(820 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 21, par. 102) Sec. 2. Any person aggrieved by any conduct of a cemetery authority or cemetery workers' association which is prohibited by Section 1 may maintain an action in the circuit court of the county in which the violation occurred to enjoin any conduct in violation of that Section. The circuit court may enter an expedited order or temporary restraining order without notice and hearing to protect the rights of persons aggrieved by such conduct in violation of Section 1 of this Act. (Source: P.A. 83-384.)

820 ILCS 135/2.1 Access to Interment Rights

(820 ILCS 135/2.1) (from Ch. 21, par. 102.1) Sec. 2.1. Access to Interment Rights. (a) If the owner of an interment right in a cemetery or his or her legatees, executor or administrator desires to use that interment right for interment purposes, necessitated by the decedent's membership in a religious sect whose tenets and beliefs require burial within a specified period of time, and a labor dispute has resulted in a disruption of normal interment services at that cemetery, the owner of the interment right or his or her heirs and legatees, executor or administrator may arrange for the performance of the interment by notifying the cemetery authority and designating individuals to perform the interment; provided that such interment and all related work necessary to perform the interment is performed at the direction and under the supervision of the cemetery authority's management personnel and from a pool of workers established pursuant to an agreement between the cemetery authority and the appropriate labor union. An agreement establishing such pool of workers to provide for the religiously required interments as set forth in this Section shall be negotiated and entered into within 120 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1992. (b) In the event of a violation of this Section, a court shall enter an injunction granting appropriate relief, including, in the case of a willful violation, an award of attorney's fees and the imposition of a fine not to exceed $1,000 for each interment which is found to have been delayed in violation of this Section. The failure of a cemetery authority or a labor union to negotiate in good faith to establish a pool of workers as provided in subsection (a) constitutes a willful violation of this Section for purposes of this subsection (b), but only if the failure to negotiate in good faith results in the delay of a religiously required interment in violation of this Section. (c) The circuit court shall give priority to a proceeding brought pursuant to this Section over other civil matters. (Source: P.A. 87-1174.)

820 ILCS 135/2.2

(820 ILCS 135/2.2) (from Ch. 21, par. 102.2) Sec. 2.2. Application of this Act. The sanctions and court proceedings under Section 2.1 of this Act are intended, as a matter of public policy, to apply only to burials required in a timely manner consistent with religious tenets and beliefs, and not to the labor dispute that would continue on beyond the limited scope of religiously required burials. (Source: P.A. 87-1174.)

820 ILCS 135/2.3

(820 ILCS 135/2.3) Sec. 2.3. Sections of cemeteries. No provision of any law of this State may be construed to prohibit a cemetery authority from reserving, in a cemetery not owned by a religious organization or institution, a section of interment rights, entombment rights, or inurnment rights for sale exclusively to persons of a particular religion, unless membership in the religion is restricted on account of race, color, or national origin. As used in this Section, "interment rights", "entombment rights", and "inurnment rights" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in the Cemetery Care Act or the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable. (Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)

820 ILCS 135/3

(820 ILCS 135/3) (from Ch. 21, par. 103) Sec. 3. (a) It is declared to be the public policy of this State pursuant to paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution that the prohibitions and restrictions contained in this Act shall be applicable in all counties and municipalities of this State, including home rule units. No county or municipality, including a home rule unit shall adopt any ordinance which abrogates any provision of this Act. (b) A county or municipality may adopt an ordinance requiring that a funeral director notify a cemetery authority within a specified period of time to make arrangements for a burial on a Sunday or legal holiday necessitated by the decedent's religious beliefs or tenets. (c) If a permit is required for the burial of a human body in a county of 3,000,000 or more population, the corporate authorities of the municipality or the county board shall insure that such permit will be issued for the burial of a decedent whose time of death and religious tenets or beliefs necessitate a Sunday or holiday burial. (Source: P.A. 83-384.)

820 ILCS 135/3.1 Severability

(820 ILCS 135/3.1) (from Ch. 21, par. 103.1) Sec. 3.1. Severability. The provisions of this Act are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes. (Source: P.A. 87-1174.)

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.aspFetched: 10/17/2026