AB 929 would let Marin transfer Mount Tamalpais Cemetery to a nonprofit or licensed cemetery authority and shield successor from past liabilities

Assemblymember Conley presented AB 929, a narrowly tailored bill to address long-running problems at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael. The presenter said the cemetery’s license was revoked in 2025 after years of neglect, financial impropriety and mismanagement, leaving families to maintain graves on overgrown and unsafe grounds.

"Following actions by the attorney general and the cemetery bureau, the state revoked the cemetery's license in 2025," the presenter said. The bill would allow Marin County to transfer ownership and management to a California nonprofit organization or a licensed cemetery authority, temporarily protect the successor from liabilities created by the prior owner, and would apply only to Mount Tamalpais Cemetery. The bill sunsets on 01/01/2029 and becomes operative only if SB 1312 is enacted.

Dylan Elliott, speaking for the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said the measure is narrow and has no opposition; the county has worked with the city and community partners on a transfer plan. A representative of the Cemetery and Mortuary Association of California also indicated likely support after the bill’s amendment. The committee moved the bill forward; the transcript records committee action but the roll-call entries for this specific file are not clearly consolidated in the transcript excerpt and a precise final numeric tally for AB 929 is not specified within the provided segments.