1. As provided in Article III, Section 48 of the Constitution of Missouri, the department of natural resources is hereby authorized to acquire by purchase, from funds appropriated or otherwise available to the department, or to acquire by gift, if such gift is unencumbered by any lien or mortgage, the Antioch Cemetery, a historic cemetery wherein is interred freed African-American slaves and their descendants, for the purpose of historic preservation and to inform and educate future generations to the contribution and sacrifice of freed African-American slaves and descendants to their country and to preserve for posterity this historic site located at 2300 Antioch Road, Clinton, Missouri, to be operated and maintained by the division of state parks within the department of natural resources. The cemetery is hereby designated as a state historic site.

2. In acquiring this cemetery, which may include both real and personal property, the department shall make adequate provisions for the proper care, maintenance, and safekeeping of the property. The department may contract for maintenance of the property.

Terms Used In Missouri Laws 253.387

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: the department of natural resources. See Missouri Laws 253.010
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
  • State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020

3. The attorney general shall approve the form of the instrument of conveyance.

4. Upon acquisition of the property, the department shall allow for burials to continue in the same manner as they had been conducted prior to acquisition until all burial plots have been purchased. The department shall charge no more than one hundred dollars per burial credited to the Antioch cemetery fund established in this section and shall not be liable for any additional costs associated with any burial. The department shall not be responsible for active burials.

5. (1) There is hereby created in the state treasury the “Antioch Cemetery Fund”, which shall consist of gifts, bequests, and moneys donated or collected under this section. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state treasurer may approve disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, moneys in the fund shall be used solely for the administration of this section.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 to the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund.

(3) The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.