Bill
A 3475
The act protects family/private burial grounds with DEP oversight, strict penalties for disturbance, and procedures for disinterment, relocation, and preservation funding.
Purpose and intent
- Establishes a comprehensive framework to protect family or private burial grounds from disturbance, alteration, or destruction.
- Creates a specialized regulatory regime under the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to oversee, preserve, and, when necessary, relocate remains and burial objects.
- Aims to deter violations through strong criminal and civil penalties, with dedicated funding to support enforcement and preservation activities.
Key definitions and scope
- Family or private burial ground: a cemetery that contains remains of two or more people, clearly identified by markers or other obvious means, not owned/operated by government, religious organizations, or a cemetery company authorized under New Jersey Cemetery Act, and located on land never used for public burials. Crematories are excluded.
- Burial objects, interment spaces, human skeletal remains, and related terms are defined to clarify what is protected.
- Disturbance includes any activity harming the character, condition, or integrity of a burial ground.
Major provisions
1) DEP administration and authority
- DEP receives general supervision and regulatory authority over all family/private burial grounds.
- DEP may apply for/accept grants, enter contracts, authorize permanent disinterment when needed for compliant activities, request inter-agency assistance, file injunctive actions, and adopt rules under the Administrative Procedure Act.
- DEP must formulate policies, maintain public records/maps of all burial grounds, provide public informational materials, review near-site construction proposals, and biennially report to the Governor and Legislature.
2) Protections against disturbance (civil and criminal)
- It is unlawful to disturb, mutilate, or destroy a family/private burial ground or interment spaces; tamper with interments; damage memorials or boundary structures; or facilitate unauthorized access for such purposes.
- Violations trigger criminal penalties (ranging from disorderly conduct to higher-degree offenses depending on the conduct and recidivism) and civil penalties.
- If there is an intent to gain an economic benefit from the violation, an additional fourth-degree crime applies with steep penalties tied to the value of the economic benefit.
3) Construction near burial grounds
- New construction near a burial ground must comply with local land-use rules; if none exist, a 15-foot buffer applies absent written relative approval from each person interred.
- Certain public-interest exceptions apply (public health, essential services, highway construction, private sewer connections) with specified conditions (including public notice and safeguards to minimize disturbance).
4) Property owner disclosures and municipal involvement
- Property owners must notify DEP of burial grounds within 120 days of enactment and record the burial ground in deeds.
- Owners may request transfer of burial grounds to a municipality; municipalities may acquire and preserve the grounds but must honor living relatives’ approvals before conversion.
- If a municipality takes ownership, the department may authorize permanent disinterment to enable relocation or repurposing, subject to living-relative approvals.
5) Disinterment and reinterment
- Unlawful or lawful disinterments must be reinterred promptly, preferably in the same burial ground; permanent disinterment requires department authorization and may relocate remains to an approved cemetery.
6) Penalties, remedies, and fund
- Violations carry criminal penalties (ranging from fourth-degree to second-degree offenses) and civil penalties (up to $100,000 first offense, $200,000 subsequent offenses).
- Civil damages may be tripled if economic gain is proven; emotional distress damages and attorney fees may be awarded; State may recover certain costs.
- All penalties and related monetary recoveries go into the Family and Private Burial Grounds Preservation Fund, along with other eligible funds, grants, or gifts.
7) Administrative and financial framework
- The Act establishes the Family and Private Burial Grounds Preservation Fund to support enforcement, preservation, and related activities.
- The bill also amends related provisions in the New Jersey Cemetery Act (e.g., disinterment procedures and cemetery-oversight references) to align with the new framework.
Effective date
- The act is slated to take effect immediately upon enactment.
Impact and who is affected
- Private property owners with family/private burial grounds must comply with notification, recording, and preservation requirements.
- DEP gains enhanced power to regulate, monitor, and enforce protections for burial grounds.
- Relatives of interred individuals gain new civil remedies and potential damages for violations.
- Penalty regimes create substantial deterrence against desecration or exploitation of burial grounds.
Note: The bill is in introductory stage (introduced 2026-01-13; referred to Assembly Regulated Professions Committee) with sponsors including Mitchelle Drulis and Yvonne Lopez (co-sponsors).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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