Sen. Richardson’s SB 1312 would let local governments declare private endowment-care cemeteries abandoned and transfer title

Senator Richardson told the committee that SB 1312 responds to a growing problem of privately owned endowment-care cemeteries being neglected or abandoned, leaving families without maintenance or access to burial sites.

"There are currently 187 private cemeteries in the state of California that are subject to abandonment," the presenter said, describing vandalism, removed grave markers, and other harms at neglected sites. The bill would formally define an "abandoned endowment-care cemetery," give the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) authority to make findings, and establish a title-transfer mechanism so a local government or public cemetery district can assume ownership and care.

Committee members pressed the author on implementation details. Senator Archuleta asked how and when a city or county would absorb ownership and whether taking the property would create liabilities; the presenter said SB 1312 outlines criteria (length of vacancy, lack of maintenance or burial services and failure to file required reports) and would not saddle a successor public entity with liabilities created by the prior private owner. A representative of the Cemetery and Mortuary Association of California said the bill emerged from a working group and the association anticipated supporting the measure. The committee moved the bill forward on a recorded vote; the transcript shows the motion carried in committee (final roll-call entries recorded an 8-1 tally).