§308.1. Franklin; interment space ownership

A. If the city of Franklin determines that the ownership of an unused interment space in a cemetery it governs is ambiguous because the right to use the space for interment may have been sold more than one hundred years previously, but no record of such a sale is extant, the city may assume control of and sell the interment space after diligent effort to locate possible current owners by a review of the public records and the procedure established in Subsection B of this Section.

B. The city shall publish a public notice in its official journal, once a month for twelve consecutive months, attempting to locate owners of any such spaces. Such notice shall, at a minimum, provide each of the following:

(1) The identity of the interment spaces, either individually or by description of the general area of the cemetery where multiple spaces are located.

(2) A statement explaining that the right of interment in such a space may have been sold more than one hundred years previously, but the city has no record of such a sale.

(3) An address where a person who can show an ownership interest in such a space may present evidence of such ownership.

(4) A specific date after which the city assumes full ownership of any unclaimed spaces and after which a previous owner has no right, title, or interest in or to such a space.

C. After compliance with Subsection B of this Section, the city shall have full ownership and control of any interment spaces referenced in the notices specified in Subsection B of this Section, if no person files suit or otherwise presents sufficient evidence of an ownership interest on or before the date specified in Paragraph (B)(4) of this Section. However, if a person's claim of ownership is presented on a timely basis but evidence is insufficient to justify a belief therein, the claim for which the person may file suit is subject to a liberative prescription of one year from the date specified in Paragraph (B)(4) of this Section. If the person does not timely file suit as specified in this Subsection, the city may thereafter sell and convey such interment spaces as provided by law.

Acts 2015, No. 73, §1.