Cemetery Registration Project
Guidelines and Resources
- Application for location or extension of boundaries of a cemetery
- Registration of Cemetery in Existence Prior to 1929
- USGenWeb Cemetery Listings (for location and genealogy information – this site is not related to the Arkansas Department of Health)
Cemetery Law Citations
- Registration Required
- Burial in registered cemetery required
- Application to locate or extend boundaries
- Perpetual Care Trust
- Columbarium / Disposal of Crematoria Remains
Registering an Existing Cemetery
Obtain a copy of the registration form from the ADH
- Obtain a legal description of the cemetery property if possible. The cemetery location and boundaries shall be described as accurately as possible. This can be done by a professional land surveyor, by providing a copy of the legal description on record, by providing a copy of a land survey of the cemetery, or potentially from a map or GIS coordinates of the boundaries.
- NOTE: The XY Coordinate System used for the cemeteries is WGS 1984. The XY coordinate is Latitude and Longitude Decimal Degrees, five decimal digits, i.e., Longitude: -92.04329, Latitude: 35.18669.
- Have the completed “Cemetery Registration” form signed by the Mayor if in city limits, or the County Judge if outside city limits. The City or County keeps a copy of the documents for their records and for public/agency inquiries. The submitter sends a copy to the ADH-Engineering Section.
- No fee is required for this initial registration of an existing cemetery.
New cemeteries and those that expand boundaries should follow the current approval process for cemetery plan review found here
Guidelines and Resources
Application for Location or Extension of Boundaries of Cemeteries
The following information must be furnished to the Arkansas Department of Health in connection with their investigation of proposed cemeteries.
- An accurate legal description of land for which the permit is requested. The legal description should be certified by an engineer or surveyor, and be consistent with all maps or plans of the proposed cemetery.
- A contour map with five-foot contour intervals is required.
- A detailed design of the cemetery layout is required. All dimensions should conform with those on the contour map.
- The size of the minimum grave space should be provided.
- A map showing locations of and distances to the nearest human habitation in each direction is required. This map should show all water wells and.or springs serving as water supplies. Locations of roads or highways in the immediate vicinity should be shown. The reference point should be shown on this map.
- At least one test hole per acre, uniformly spaced, is required. Holes should be at least six feet deep. Logs of all test holes should describe types of soil and any rock encountered. Depths at which water is encountered should be indicated. Logs should be certified by a competent person.
- Perpetual Care Cemeteries must also make an application through:
Arkansas State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors Cemeteries & Burial Services
Arkansas Department of Commerce
Arkansas Insurance Department-Funeral Service Division
#1 Commerce Way
Suite 502
Little Rock, Arkansas 72202-2087
Phone # 501-371-2646 - Mail plans to:
Arkansas Department of Health
Engineering Section
4815 West Markham, Slot 37
Little Rock, AR 72205-3867 - Online Plan Submittal
- A plan review of $50, required by state statute, must accompany the plans.
Cemetery Law Citations
20-17-901. Registration required.
All cemeteries now existing in the state shall be registered with the county judge, if under his jurisdiction, or with the mayor, as the case may be, and a copy of the registration shall be filed with the Department of Health. This registration shall show the location and boundaries of the cemetery.
History. Acts 1929, No. 204, § 2; Pope’s Dig., § 6447; Acts 1985, No. 1014, § 2; A.S.A. 1947, § 82-402.
20-17-902. Burial in registered cemetery required – Records.
(a) It shall be unlawful to bury a dead body outside of a registered cemetery.
(b) The sexton or person in charge of the cemetery shall keep a correct record, on a form prescribed by the Department of Health, of each body buried therein.
History. Acts 1929, No. 204, § 3; Pope’s Dig., § 6448; Acts 1985, No. 1014, § 3; A.S.A. 1947, § 82-403.
20-17-903. Application to locate or extend boundaries.
(a) Whenever it is proposed to locate a cemetery or to extend the boundaries of an existing cemetery, the party so proposing shall make written application to the county judge or the mayor of an incorporated city or town, according to whether the cemetery or extension of a cemetery, is to be located in the jurisdiction of one (1) or the other of these authorities. The written description shall describe accurately the location and boundaries of the proposed cemetery or extension of a cemetery.
(b) Before acting upon the application, the county judge or the mayor, as the case may be, shall refer the application to the Department of Health for investigation from a sanitary standpoint. In making such investigation the department shall take into consideration the proximity of the proposed cemetery or extension of a cemetery to human habitations, the nature of the soil, the drainage of the ground, the danger of pollution of valuable springs or streams of water, and such other conditions as would bear upon the situation.
(c) Having completed its investigation as promptly as can be done, the department shall submit a report to the judge or the mayor, as the case may be, and either approve or disapprove the application.
(d) Having received the report from the department, the judge or the mayor, as the case may be, as recommended by the department, shall either grant or deny the application.
(e) Should the application be granted, the judge or the mayor, as the case may be, shall issue to the party making the application, in such form as may be prescribed by the department, a permit to establish or extend the cemetery in question.
(f) The permit shall be recorded in the office of the county judge or the mayor and a copy forwarded to the department.
History. Acts 1929, No. 204, § 1; Pope’s Dig., § 6446; Acts 1985, No. 1014, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 82-401.
20-17-904. Perpetual care trust.
(a) Any person, by trust instrument or will, may establish a trust fund in perpetuity with the income from the trust fund to go to the upkeep of certain specified burial lots or plots in one (1) or more cemeteries or burial grounds in the State of Arkansas.
(b)(1) No amount placed in trust pursuant to subsection (a) of this section by any one (1) trustor or testator shall be in excess of the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(2) The trust fund shall be invested in the state, municipal, or federal obligations; deposited for interest in a savings and loan association whose funds are insured by the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation; or placed on interest-bearing time deposit in a bank whose funds are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(3) The trust fund shall be so invested or deposited as directed by the chancery court of the county in which is located the burial grounds specified in the trust instrument of the trustor or will of the testator.
(c) The trustee of the fund shall file an annual report in the chancery court of the county wherein the burial grounds are located, showing the receipts and disbursements from the trust fund.
(d) The provisions of subsections (a)-(c) of this section are in addition to any and all other laws relating to cemeteries and trust funds.
(e) The rule against perpetuities shall not apply to property or funds set aside or trust created for the perpetual care of burial lots in cemeteries.
History. Acts 1939, No. 122, § 1; 1965, No. 445, §§ 1-4; 1985, No. 597, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 50-108, 82-427 – 82-430.
Columbarium / Disposal of Crematoria Remains
The cemetery statutes are silent concerning the disposal of crematoria remains or the development of a columbarium for such disposal or interment. The Department of Health does not believe that there is any public health significance to the disposal of crematoria remains and therefore does not regulate such disposal or the construction or development of columbaria.
Contact Information
Plan Review
4815 West Markham, Slot 37
Little Rock, AR 72205-3867
Phone: 501 661-2623
Fax: 501 661-2032
[email protected]
