Historic Cemeteries and Gravestone Protection

Overview

Connecticut has no centralized office to provide cemetery guidance or oversight. SHPO is available for technical advice and guidance regarding historic cemeteries, unmarked burials, individual graves, and/or family plots; our office does not oversee or approve cemetery maintenance in any official capacity unless state/federal money is being used to complete the work or federal permits are required. In these situations, the proposed work is subject to review by our office and follows the environmental review process.

 

Below is a list with links to chapters from the General Statutes of Connecticut with statute titles pertaining to the maintenance, protection, and use of historic cemeteries. This is not a comprehensive list, and most statutes do not require SHPO involvement. It is being provided as a courtesy to assist municipalities, cemetery organizations, descendants, and other stewards with planning in the absence of a state administering agency. SHPO is not able to offer legal advice on the application of statutes or procedures for how to comply. Legal questions should be answered by a hired attorney, the probate courts, municipal legal counsel, or the State’s Attorney General’s Office. Click the hyperlink to read each law in its entirety.

 

Chapter 184a Policy Concerning Archaeological Investigations

10-388: Disturbance, destruction, and exposure of human burials

10-390: Penalties for desecration or disturbance of human burials

Chapter 368j Cemeteries

19a-295: Ownership and management of burial grounds

19a-308: Care of neglected cemeteries

19a-308a: Acquisition by municipality of an abandoned cemetery

19a-315: Definitions

19a-315b: Protection of grave markers

19a-315c: Maintenance of burial places

Chapter 952 Penal Code, Offenses

53a-218: Interference with a cemetery or burial ground: Class C felony

53a-219: Unlawful possession or sale of gravestones: Class D felony

 

Additional Guidance

Because historic cemeteries frequently are characterized by shallow and/or unmarked graves, best guidance is to never remove plants by their root; rather, leave stumps in place and use hand clippers, as needed. For similar reasons, SHPO also recommends avoiding ground disturbing activities with 50 feet of the recognized boundary. Our office has grants available to municipalities and recognized 501c(3) organizations to assist with identifying the location of unmarked burials to avoid impacting them and the resulting penalties associated with Connecticut General Statute 53a-218. Additional information about this grant can be found in the Guidelines for Survey and Planning Grants.

 

The Office of Policy Management administers the Neglected Cemetery Account Grant Program when funding is available [https://portal.ct.gov/opm/igpp/grants/grants]. Additional grant assistance may be available if the cemetery has a historic designation. To determine if a location is listed on the State or National Register of Historic Places, you can look up the address on ConnCRIS.

 

There are no state laws that describe the preservation techniques of cemeteries and gravestones, but there are best practices and standards to assure their continued existence. You can find specific information regarding the appropriate care of historic cemetery markers in Preservation Brief #48 from the National Park Service.

 

Finally, the Connecticut Gravestone Network is an excellent source of information on a range of topics related to our state’s historic cemeteries: https://ctgravestones.org/.


Contact

Catherine Labadia at (860) 500-2329 or catherine.labadia@ct.gov.