SECTIONS 8585 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 8585

8585. (a) Whenever ownership of any cemetery authority is proposed
to be transferred, the cemetery authority shall notify the Cemetery
and Funeral Bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. A change in
ownership, for purposes of this section, shall be deemed to occur
whenever more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a
cemetery authority is transferred in a single transaction or in a
related series of transactions to one or more persons, associations,
or corporations. The notice shall specify the address of the
principal offices of the cemetery authority, and whether it will be
changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each
new owner and the stockholders. A person or entity that knowingly
provides false information shall be subject to a civil penalty for
each violation in the minimum amount of two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) and the maximum amount of twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000). An action for a civil penalty under this provision
may be brought by any public prosecutor in the name of the people of
the State of California and the penalty imposed shall be enforceable
as a civil judgment.
(b) Notice of the change of ownership shall be published in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the cemetery
is located. The notice shall specify the address of the principal
offices of the cemetery authority, whether changed or unchanged, and
shall specify the name and address of each new owner and each
stockholder owning more than 5 percent of the stock of each new
owner.
(c) If there is a change of ownership pursuant to this section,
the existing certificate of authority shall lapse and a new
certificate of authority shall be obtained from the Cemetery and
Funeral Bureau. No person shall purchase a cemetery, including
purchase at a sale for delinquent taxes, or purchase more than 50
percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority without
having obtained a certificate of authority from the Cemetery and
Funeral Bureau prior to the purchase of the cemetery or the ownership
interest in the cemetery authority.
(d) Every cemetery authority shall post and continuously maintain
at each public entrance to the cemetery a sign specifying the current
name and address of the cemetery authority, a statement that the
name and address of each director and officer of the cemetery
authority may be obtained by contacting the Cemetery and Funeral
Bureau, and shall have either of the following:
(1) The address of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.
(2) A statement that the address of the Cemetery and Funeral
Bureau is available at the office of the cemetery.
(e) The signs shall be at least 16 inches high and 24 inches wide
and shall be prominently mounted upright and vertical.
(f) The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau shall suspend the certificate
of authority of any cemetery authority that is in violation of this
section. No person shall obtain a certificate of authority under
intentionally false or misleading statements and no person shall
delegate authority of ownership under this section, except to another
person licensed by the bureau. The certificate may be reinstated
only upon compliance with these requirements.