Abandoned endowment care cemeteries: local agency possession and responsibility.

Senator Richardson's proposal establishes a framework for local agencies to assume responsibility for abandoned endowment care cemeteries in California. The legislation creates procedures for transferring cemetery ownership and management from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to designated local entities when cemetery authorities cease operations.

Under the bill's provisions, the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau must notify county-level local agency formation commissions when endowment care cemeteries become abandoned - defined as properties whose operating certificates have been canceled, surrendered, or revoked without ownership transfer for one year. These commissions then have six months to identify a local agency to take possession of the cemetery. The designated agency receives the property's fee title and any endowment care funds previously held by the bureau, with those assets to be liquidated into a special fund restricted to cemetery maintenance and operations.

The legislation requires local agencies that acquire abandoned cemeteries to maintain the properties exclusively for cemetery purposes and honor all existing burial contracts. It also modifies state code to distinguish between the handling of abandoned endowment and non-endowment care cemeteries. As the bill creates new obligations for local agencies, it includes provisions for state reimbursement of mandated costs through established procedures, pending review by the Commission on State Mandates.