Cemetery company: means an individual, partnership, corporation, or association, now or hereafter organized, owning or controlling cemetery lands or property and conducting the business of a cemetery. See Tennessee Code 46-1-102
Commodity: includes , but is not limited to, memorials consisting of permanent monuments or gravemarkers of marble, granite or bronze, bronze plaques, or bronze vases, and foundations or footings of the memorials. See Tennessee Code 46-1-102
Consumer price index: means the consumer price index (all items-United States city average), as published by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics. See Tennessee Code 46-1-102
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
grave space: means a space of ground in a cemetery used or intended to be used for interment, the beautification of the ground, or the memorialization of the deceased person. See Tennessee Code 46-1-102
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Services: means acts performed by a cemetery company on its premises in the final interment of human remains or the installation of cemetery merchandise used in connection with final interment. See Tennessee Code 46-1-102
(1) The owner of every cemetery may make, adopt, and enforce, and from time to time may amend, add to, revise, change, modify, or abolish, reasonable rules and regulations for:
(A) The use, care, control, management, restriction, and protection of the cemetery, and of all parts and subdivisions of the cemetery;(B) Restricting, limiting, and regulating the use of all property within the cemetery;(C) Regulating and preventing the introduction and care of plants or shrubs within the grounds;(D) Regulating the conduct of persons and preventing improper assemblages in the cemetery; and(E) All other purposes deemed necessary by the owner of the cemetery for the proper conduct of the business of the cemetery and the protection or safeguarding of the premises and the principles, plans, and ideas on which the cemetery was organized.(2) The owner of the cemetery may prescribe penalties for the violation of any rule or regulation. These penalties may be recovered by the owner of the cemetery in a civil action.(3) The rules and regulations shall be plainly printed or typewritten, posted conspicuously and maintained, subject to inspection and copying, at the usual place for transacting the regular business of the cemetery; provided, that no cemetery to which chapter 1 of this title is applicable has the power to adopt any rule or regulation in conflict with chapter 1 of this title or in derogation of the contract rights of lot owners.(b)(1) The owner of every cemetery has the further right to establish reasonable rules and regulations regarding the type, material, design, composition, finish, and specifications of all commodities to be used or installed in the cemetery. The rules and regulations shall be posted conspicuously and maintained, subject to inspection and copying, at the usual place for transacting the regular business of the cemetery. No cemetery owner has the right to prevent the use of any commodity purchased by a lot owner, or the owner’s representative, agent, or heirs or assigns from any source; provided, that the use meets the rules.(2) A cemetery owner shall be permitted to prohibit the installation of a commodity by noncemetery personnel; provided, that the fee charged by the cemetery owner for installation of the commodity does not exceed twenty-six cents (26¢) per square inch of the ground covered by the commodity. At the end of each calendar year, the cemetery owner shall be permitted to increase the fee for the installation of commodities by no more than the percentage representing the consumer price index at the end of that calendar year. The charge for installation of a commodity by the cemetery owner shall be the same to all persons, regardless of the source of the commodity. The cemetery owner shall install all commodities furnished from sources other than the cemetery within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the commodity, weather permitting.(3) If the fee charged by a cemetery owner for installation of a commodity exceeds the fee scale described in subdivision (b)(2), then the cemetery owner shall permit installation of the commodity by noncemetery personnel, if requested by the lot owner, or the owner’s representative, agent, or heirs or assigns. If noncemetery personnel are permitted to install a commodity, they shall not be denied reasonable access to the lot or grave space for the purpose of installing or servicing the commodity. The cemetery owner shall not deny information pertinent to the place of burial and respective grave location or installation location of the commodity. The information shall be furnished within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed fourteen (14) days after receipt of the request for information. The cemetery owner shall not charge for furnishing the information necessary for the proper installation of the commodity.(c) The cemetery owner shall not charge for any service not performed. The cemetery owner shall be allowed to charge an administrative, processing, or documentation fee; provided, however, that the fee is an equal amount charged to all cemetery customers and that the fee shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100) per agreement or transaction, including, but not limited to, allowing noncemetery personnel to install or have installed a commodity or monument. The cemetery owner shall not charge any fees on any transaction in addition to the cost of the merchandise or services other than the administrative, processing, or documentation fee.(d) All cemetery owners shall have a full and complete schedule of all charges for services provided by the cemetery plainly printed or typewritten, posted conspicuously and maintained, subject to inspection and copying, at the usual place for transacting the regular business of the cemetery. Any cemetery company that sells funeral merchandise must maintain a price list for that funeral merchandise that shall be provided to any person who inquires about funeral merchandise or the price of such merchandise.
