SPRINGFIELD- This week Senator Trotter (D-Chicago) passed legislation that requires cemetery owners, cemetery managers and customer service employees to become licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).

House Bill 1188, sponsored by Senator Trotter, provides that workers in a supervisory role or negotiate with consumers at cemeteries will have to be licensed. Most cemeteries will also face stricter regulation. Some of these new requirements include "reasonably maintaining" their property, keeping cemetery maps and burial records, updating IDFPR’s burial database within 10 days of a service and giving compensation for re-burial costs for family members of a deceased person if their body is desecrated in any way. The measure fully exempts cemeteries classified as either family burial grounds, inactive (no burials in the last 10 years) or small cemeteries (less than 2 acres).

"The new licensing requirements and tighter regulations will hold cemetery owners and their workers more liable for their actions," Senator Trotter said. "By requiring cemeteries to keep public maps, it further prevents them from hiding misconduct."

The bill is a direct result of the tragic events at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. Last year, investigators discovered disinterred human remains and discarded gravestones at the cemetery. Senator Trotter, who has 27 family members buried at the cemetery, called for immediate legislative action. Authorities believe that over 300 bodies at the cemetery were illegally dug up and discarded in a pile so their gravesites could be resold.

"While the actions that caused this situation are heartbreaking, I commend my colleagues for passing a piece of legislation that has such a strong impact on so many families," Senator Trotter acknowledged. "And although this measure can't fix the wrongdoing that has already occurred, it is my hope that it offers a step in the right direction to ensuring that something of this nature never happens again."