Some South Carolina laws to consider...
Destruction or Desecration of Human Remains or Repositories
S.C. Code of Laws, Section 16-17-600. Destruction or desecration of human
remains or repositories
thereof; liability of crematory operators; penalties.
(A) It is unlawful for a person willfully and knowingly, and without proper
legal authority to:
(1) destroy or damage the remains of a deceased human being;
(2) remove a portion of the remains of a deceased human being from a burial
ground where human
skeletal remains are buried, a grave, crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository;
or
(3) desecrate human remains.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction,
must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not less
than one year nor more
than ten years, or both.
A crematory operator is neither civilly nor criminally liable for cremating
a body which (1) has
been incorrectly identified by the funeral director, coroner, medical examiner,
or person
authorized by law to bring the deceased to the crematory; or (2) the funeral
director has obtained
invalid authorization to cremate. This immunity does not apply to a crematory
operator who knew or
should have known that the body was incorrectly identified.
(B) It is unlawful for a person willfully and knowingly, and without proper
legal authority to:
(1) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a burial ground where human skeletal
remains are buried, a
grave, graveyard, tomb, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains;
(2) deface, vandalize, injure, or remove a gravestone or other memorial monument
or marker
commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within
or outside of a
recognized cemetery, memorial park, or battlefield; or
(3) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a park or other area clearly designated
to preserve and
perpetuate the memory of a deceased person or group of persons.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (B) is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction,
must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than five thousand
dollars, or both.
(C) It is unlawful for a person willfully, knowingly, and without proper
legal authority to
destroy, tear down, or injure only fencing, plants, trees, shrubs, or flowers
located upon or
around a repository for human remains, or within a human graveyard or memorial
park.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (C) is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction,
must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more
than five years, or both.
Injury or loss of property less than two hundred dollars is a misdemeanor
tryable in magistrate's
court. Upon conviction, the person must be fined, imprisoned, or both, not
more than is permitted
by law, without presentment or indictment by the grand jury, and further
must be required to
perform up to five hundred hours of community service in an amount to be
determined by the court.
Removal of Abandoned Cemeteries
S.C. Code of Laws, Section 27-43-10. Notice of proposed removal; due
care required.
A person who owns land on which is situated an abandoned cemetery or burying
ground may remove
graves in the cemetery or ground to a suitable plot in another cemetery or
suitable location if:
(1) It is necessary and expedient in the opinion of the governing body of
the county or
municipality in which the cemetery or burying ground is situated to remove
the graves. The
governing body shall consider objections to removal pursuant to the notice
under item (2) or
otherwise before it approves removal.
(2) Thirty days' notice of removal is given to the relatives of the deceased
persons buried in the
graves, if they are known. If no relatives are known, thirty days' notice
must be published in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property lies. If
no newspaper is
published in the county, notice must be posted in three prominent places
in the county, one of
which must be the courthouse door.
(3) Due care is taken to protect tombstones and replace them properly, so
as to leave the graves in
as good condition as before removal.
Section 27-43-20. Removal to plot agreeable to governing body and relatives;
board may determine
suitable plot in case of disagreement.
The plot to which the graves are removed shall be one which is mutually agreeable
between the
governing body of the county or municipality and the relatives of the deceased
persons. If a
suitable plot cannot be agreed upon between the parties concerned the matter
shall be finally
determined by a board of three members which shall be convened within fifteen
days after final
disagreement on the new location of the plot. The board shall be appointed
as follows: One member
shall be appointed by the county or municipality, one member shall be appointed
by the relatives,
and a third member shall be selected by the two. The decision of the board
shall be final.
Section 27-43-30. Supervision of removal work; expenses.
All work connected with the removal of the graves shall be done under the
supervision of the
governing body of the county, who shall employ a funeral director licensed
by this State. All
expenses incurred in the operation shall be borne by the person seeking removal
of the graves.
Section 27-43-40. Evidence of abandonment.
The conveyance of the land upon which the cemetery or burying ground is situated
without
reservation of the cemetery or burying ground shall be evidence of abandonment
for the purposes of
this chapter.