AS Title 10, Chapter 30: Cemetery Associations and Nonprofit Cemetery Corporations

Chapter 30. Cemetery Associations and Nonprofit Cemetery Corporations. Sec. 10.30.010. Formation of cemetery association. Five or more persons who are residents of the same recording district may form themselves into a cemetery association, and elect at least three of their members to serve as trustees, and one member as clerk. The trustees and the clerk hold office at the pleasure of the association. Sec. 10.30.020. Records. The clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the meetings of the association, certify to and record one copy of the record together with the name of the association with the recorder in the recording district in which the meeting is held, and file one copy in the office of the clerk of the superior court. Sec. 10.30.030. Effect of filing and recording. Upon filing and recording the record as required in AS 10.30.020 the trustees and members of the association and successors are invested with the powers, privileges, and immunities incident to aggregate corporations. Sec. 10.30.040. Succession and powers of trustees. The trustees of a cemetery association have perpetual succession, and may contract, and prosecute and defend actions. Sec. 10.30.050. Bylaws. A cemetery association may enact bylaws necessary for the proper management of the association and may prescribe the terms on which members may be admitted, the number of its trustees and officers, and the time and manner of their election or appointment, and the time and place of meeting for the trustees and for the association. Sec. 10.30.055. Formation of nonprofit cemetery corporation. As an alternative to the provisions of AS 10.30.010 — 10.30.050, a cemetery may be incorporated under AS 10.20 . A nonprofit cemetery corporation is subject to the provisions of AS 10.20 except to the extent that those provisions conflict with the provisions of this chapter relating to cemetery corporations. Sec. 10.30.058. Other transactions. A cemetery association and a nonprofit cemetery corporation may enter into mergers, interest exchanges, conversions, and domestications under AS 10.55 (Alaska Entity Transactions Act). Sec. 10.30.060. Power to acquire and dispose of lands, and exemption from execution, taxation, and public appropriation. A cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation may buy or take by gift or devise, and hold, land not exceeding 80 acres, for the sole purpose of a cemetery. The land is exempt from execution, and from any appropriation to public purposes, and from taxation if intended to be used exclusively for burial purposes and in no way for the profit of the members or trustees of the association or the directors, officers, or employees of the corporation. Sec. 10.30.070. Creation and use of irreducible fund. A cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation may by its bylaws provide that a stated percentage of the money realized from the sale of cemetery lots and donations constitutes an irreducible fund, which may be invested in the manner or loaned upon the securities the association or corporation considers proper. The interest or income from the irreducible fund provided for in a bylaw, or as much as may be necessary, shall be devoted exclusively to (1) the preservation and embellishment of the grounds, buildings, and property of the association or corporation that are related to the operation of a cemetery; (2) the preservation and embellishment of cemetery lots and space in buildings or on grounds sold to the association or corporation that are related to the operation of a cemetery; or (3) the payment of interest and principal of debts authorized by the association or corporation for the purchase of land or equipment or for the construction or improvement of buildings that are related to the operation of a cemetery. If a bylaw has been enacted for the creation of an irreducible fund, the percentage stated in the bylaw may not be reduced. Sec. 10.30.080. Disposition of income from cemetery land. After paying for the land, the future receipts and income of a cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation, subject to the creation of an irreducible fund, whether from the sale of lots, from donations, rents, or otherwise, shall be applied exclusively to laying out, preserving, protecting, and embellishing the cemetery and the avenues leading to it, the erection of buildings necessary or convenient for the cemetery purpose, and to paying the necessary expenses of the association or corporation. Sec. 10.30.090. Debts of association or corporation. A cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation may contract debts in anticipation of future receipts for the original purchase of cemetery land, the laying out and embellishment of the grounds and avenues of the cemetery, the construction and repair of a building, mausoleum or columbarium, the purchase or lease of necessary equipment, or other cemetery purposes, for which debts the association or corporation may issue bonds or notes. An association or corporation may secure these debts by mortgage upon its lands, except cemetery lots that have been conveyed to the members of the association or to trustees, officers, or employees of the corporation, or by a security interest in not more than 50 percent of the irreducible fund. Sec. 10.30.100. Transfer of cemetery lots. A cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation may adopt regulations the association or corporation considers expedient for disposing of and conveying cemetery lots. Sec. 10.30.110. Sale of unsuitable land. The trustees of a cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation may, whenever in their opinion a portion of cemetery land is unsuitable for burial purposes, sell the portion and apply the proceeds to the general purposes of the association or corporation. Sec. 10.30.120. Purpose of cemetery lots sold; exemptions. Cemetery lots sold by a cemetery association or a nonprofit cemetery corporation are for the sole purpose of interment and are exempt from taxation, execution, attachment, or any other claim, lien, or process, if used exclusively for burial purposes without an intention to obtain a profit. Sec. 10.30.130. Plans of grounds and cemetery lots. A cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation shall have a plan of its grounds and cemetery lots as laid out made and recorded in a book kept for that purpose by the clerk of the association or the secretary of the corporation. The cemetery lots shall be numbered by consecutive numbers. Sec. 10.30.140. Maintenance of cemetery land. A cemetery association or nonprofit cemetery corporation may enclose, improve, and adorn the grounds and avenues, erect buildings for the use of the association or corporation, adopt rules for the designation and adornment of cemetery lots and for erecting monuments in the cemetery, and prohibit any use, division, improvement, or adornment of a cemetery lot that the association or corporation considers improper. Sec. 10.30.150. Annual financial statement. An annual statement of the financial affairs of a cemetery association or a nonprofit cemetery corporation shall be made by the clerk of the association or the secretary of the corporation. Sec. 10.30.155. Definition. In this chapter, “cemetery lot” means a lot, plot, space, grave, niche, mausoleum, crypt, vault, or columbarium, used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains.