Adopted 5-23-2022

DEFINITIONS: As used in these regulations, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) “Board” shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Oroville Cemetery District.

(b) “District” shall mean the Oroville Cemetery District.

(d) “Lot Owner” shall mean one who has purchased burial rights.

2. FEES AND CHARGES:

All fees of the District shall be posted at the District Office and shall be subject to change at the discretion of the Board. Upon payment in full of all costs and expenses and payment of the Endowment Care contribution, a Certificate of Burial Rights, executed by an authorized representative, shall be issued.

(a) Lot owners will not be allowed to resell or transfer plots without the prior written consent of the District, and a transfer fee has been paid to the District. The District will buy back plots at the original purchase price, less an administrative charge. Endowment care contributions are strictly non refundable.

(b) Burial Rights for future use may be purchased by contract. However, the purchase of plots for undesignated future interments is limited to three. If the purchaser wishes to purchase more than three (3) plots, the purchaser must designate the individual(s) to be interred in each such plot by providing the District with the name(s), address, phone number, and date and place of birth of each such individual. .

(c) A fee is charged for each interment , without regard, to its location, within a “family plot”. Only upon submittal of proof of prior payment satisfactory to the District, will a fee not be charged. Otherwise, a fee current to the time of use, will be charged. In all cases, other fees and costs such as opening and closing, vault purchase, and so forth must be paid prior to use of plot.

3. BURIALS:

Lot owners, funeral directors and other authorized persons shall comply with the following regulations in the use of lots and plots for burial purposes.

(a) No interments shall take place or other services rendered until all charges for plots and services have been paid. Full payment for services must be received 24 hours prior to the scheduled service or burial will not be permitted.

(b) Arrangements for interments and/or disinterments are made on the basis of a completed Interment or Disinterment Order and shall be made through the District Office located at Memorial Park Cemetery no less than 24 hours in advance of the requested service time. Should a service be cancelled and rescheduled, the District Office shall be notified no less than 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of service. An additional fee equivalent to the opening and closing fee will be charged to the responsible party if notification of a cancellation is not received by the District Office 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of service.

(c) Mortuaries and funeral homes may schedule services via telephone with the District Office and shall provide the District Office with a confirmation of their requested services, via fax, as provided by the District, no less than 24 hours in advance of the requested service time. Failure to provide the District Office with the faxed confirmation will delay, or even prevent the service occurring as scheduled.

(d) All services must be scheduled during the District’s usual business hours. The District Office is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, except holidays.

(e) Final committal services shall not begin before 8:00 a.m. or later than 2:00 p.m.

(f) No interment or disinterment shall be performed on Saturday, Sunday or a Legal Holiday. Exception: As ordered by the Butte County Health Officer, or as provided by law.

(g) A Permit for Disposition of Human Remains (burial permit) must, in all cases, accompany the body to the cemetery. A faxed copy of the permit shall be acceptable, with the original to be received within five (5) working days thereafter.

(h) The remains or cremains of the deceased shall be brought to the cemetery in a closed casket, or container suitable for interment.

(i) The District is responsible for the care, maintenance, health and environment of its cemeteries. In fulfilling that responsibility, the District has determined that vaults in which human remains are interred must meet certain specifications. In order to avoid problems and inconsistencies arising from vaults or varying sizes, shapes and materials, all burials in the Oroville Cemetery District must be made utilizing vaults supplied by, and purchased from, the Oroville Cemetery District. No burials will be permitted in vaults from any other sources at any time.

(j) Applications for removal of remains must be made at the office of the District, but no remains shall be removed from the cemetery without a permit from the Butte County Health Department.

(k) No casket shall be opened before, during or following a service, without the direct permission of the family of the deceased and then only under the direction of the funeral director in charge.

(l) Disinterment and removal of bodies from graves must be done in accordance with Health & Safety Code sections 7500 - 7528. A disinterment permit is required to remove any remains from the Cemetery. Disinterments maybe scheduled Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., except on Holidays. Disinterment and re-interment within the Cemetery must have the written consent of the person(s) entitled to control the remains, pursuant to Health & Safety Code section 7100, and the person(s) entitled to control the plot or niche intended for re-interment, per Health & Safety Code section 9069.10, et seq.

Cemetery staff will conduct all disinterments. However, staff will not open caskets. Any opening of a casket must be handled by and under the supervision of a funeral director or coroner. Disinterment for the purpose of casket opening must be transported to a licensed mortuary for the opening of the casket, no previously interred casket shall be opened on the cemetery grounds.

Disinterment of a burial which District suspects may be significantly deteriorated due to age, lack of casket or container, or other reasons will be treated in accordance with this subsection. District staff will excavate to the burial, but retrieval of any container and remains must be made by the coroner or funeral director. The District, in its sole discretion, will assess the likelihood or possibility of such deterioration and will inform the person requesting the disinterment prior to any action being taken.

(m) Full burial plots may contain up to four burials (one of which must be a full casket burial):

Two full caskets and two cremations, or one full casket and three cremations. The number of headstones allowed per plot is limited to two.

The number of cremations burials and headstones allowed in a cremation plot is restricted depending on the size and location of plot.

(n) Alpha section has been reserved for Veterans. A veteran or spouse may purchase a maximum of two burial plots in the section. These plots may be used as single or double depth plots in designated areas only. Any immediate family member of an eligible veteran may be buried in Alpha section, but only in a double depth (companion plot) in which either the eligible member or spouse will be or has been interred, provided space therein is available and providing arrangements for double depth interment has been made prior to the first interment. Board Action 9-24-2012: The District recognizes all United States armed forces with honorable discharge status as eligible for burial in the in veterans section. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard.

(o) Jewish Cemetery: Deeded to the Trustees of the Oroville Jewish Cemetery in 1871 for the “use and benefit of the Hebrews or Jews of said town.” Burials in the Jewish Cemetery require a Rabbi’s letter of consent.

4. CARE OF GRAVES AND CEMETERY GROUNDS:

The absolute control of the cemetery grounds in every particular is vested in the Board. Lot holders and others are entitled only to such privileges as are provided by these Rules and Regulations. Subject to this control, the following shall regulate the general care of the graves and cemetery grounds.

(a) Admission to the grounds shall be limited to the hours between 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (or at sunset) during Daylight Savings Time. During all other times of the year, gates will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Any persons visiting the cemetery shall do so at your own risk.

(b) No coping of any kind will be permitted around plots or family plots in Memorial Park, nor shall construction of new copings be permitted in any of the cemeteries operated by the District.

(d) No person shall gather flowers or disturb any plants in any way on any lot of which he is not the owner, nor shall any person disturb any plants or gather any flowers in any part of the cemetery grounds.

(e) If any tree, shrub, plant or vine situated on any lot, plot or street, shall by reason of roots, branches, height, shade or otherwise become detrimental or unsightly to the adjacent lots, plots, walks, street or dangerous or inconvenient to passer-by, the District will enter said lot and remove such tree, shrub, plant or vine, or such parts thereof as deemed necessary.

(f) No person shall plant any tree, shrub, bush or flowers on the cemetery grounds. Donations for trees are encouraged, but trees will be selected and planted under the direction of the District.

(g) No person or persons shall place any foreign item, such as rocks, cement, gravel, etc., on any gravesite and no fires of any type are permitted on any burial plot or on the cemetery grounds.

(h) Memorial markers. Please refer to Memorial Marker Rules available in the District Office.

(i) Flowers. Please refer to Flower Regulations.

5. MISCELLANEOUS:

(a) The District expressly disclaims responsibility for the loss or damage to any plot, maker or memorial, resulting from any cause beyond the District’s reasonable control, including loss or damage caused by the elements, an Act of God, thieves or vandalism.

(b) Access to District Records: The Governing Board recognizes the right of citizens to have access to public records of the district. The Board intends the district to provide any person reasonable access to the public records of the district during normal business hours and within the requirements of state and federal law. Such records shall be examined in the presence of a staff member.

The district may charge for copies of public records or other materials requested by individuals or groups. The charge will be based on actual costs of duplication, as determined by the Manager and as specified in administrative regulation.

Public access shall not be given to records listed as exempt from public disclosure in the California Public Records Act or other statutes.

6. LEGAL PROVISIONS:

In addition to the provisions established by law for the operation of the District’s cemeteries, the following rules and regulations shall apply:

(a) Burial in the District’s cemeteries shall be limited in accordance with Section 9060 of California’s Health & Safety Code as the same now exists or may hereafter be amended. For the purpose of these rules and regulations, interments shall be limited to residents and taxpayers of the District, their family members, and eligible non-residents, as provided in Sections 9060 and 9061 of the California Health & Safety Code.

(b)The conveyance and succession of said interment rights shall be subject to the California Health and Safety Code Section 9069, Chapter 5.5, Interment Rights and all the District’s rules and regulations, which may be duly adopted in policies, rules, and regulations for governing the use, sale, or other transfer of interment rights.

If the Buyer is deceased and said contract has not been used for interment, said rights will succeed in the order of Assignment Designation. If no assigned designee makes a claim on said interment rights, they shall pass according to the laws of intestate succession as set forth in Section 6400 to 6413, inclusive of the California Probate Code.

(c) Rights of Owner: The owner and successor owners are bound by the Rules & Regulations of the Oroville Cemetery District. The owner and successor owner(s) control the placement, design, wording and removal of memorial markers (in accordance with District Rules & Regulations), make all decisions regarding the interment of other remains (in addition to any designated User) in the plot (in accordance with District Rules & Regulations). May designated other successor owners.

(d) Control and Use of Plots: If the original purchaser(s) designated a User for the interment right, no successor may change the designation unless: i. The successor owner demonstrates that the User has, in fact been interred elsewhere, or

ii. The intended User surrenders, in writing, the right to use the interment right to the successor owner.