Sec. 49.224. POWER TO CONDEMN CEMETERIES. (a) The use of land for the construction of district dams and creation of lakes and reservoirs for the purpose of conservation and development of the natural resources of this state is hereby declared to be superior to all other uses, and for these purposes only a district has the power of eminent domain to acquire land, improvements, and other property owned and held for cemeteries or burial places necessary for the construction of a dam or that lies inside the area to be covered by the lake or reservoir or within 300 feet of the high water line of the lake or reservoir.

(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, the procedure in condemnation proceedings is governed by Chapter 21, Property Code.

(c) Notice shall be served on the title owner of the land on which the cemetery is situated as provided in Chapter 21, Property Code. General notice to persons having relatives interred in the cemetery shall be given by publication for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper circulated in the county in which the cemetery is situated.

(d) The measure of damages in these eminent domain proceedings shall be assessed as in other condemnation cases. An additional amount of damages shall be assessed to cover the cost of removing and reinterring the bodies interred in the cemetery or burial place and the cost of removing and resetting the monuments or markers erected at the graves.

(e) The additional assessment shall be deposited in the registry of the county court and disbursed only for the purpose of removing and reinterring the bodies in other cemeteries in Texas agreed on between the district and the relatives of the deceased persons.

(f) If in any case the district and the relatives of a deceased person cannot agree within 30 days on a cemetery for reinterment, or no relatives appear within that time, then the county judge shall designate the cemetery for reinterment.

(g) Instead of depositing the additional assessment in the registry of the court, the district may execute a bond sufficient to cover costs of removing and reinterring the bodies. The bond shall be payable to and approved by the county judge and conditioned that the bodies will be removed and reinterred as provided by this section.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 715, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.