The Honorable Scott A. Haselman
AGO 2019-30
Opinion No. 2019-030
Ohio Attorney General Opinion
Ohio Attorney General
August 19, 2019
The
Honorable Scott A. Haselman
Fulton
County Prosecuting Attorney
152 S.
Fulton Street, Suite 240
Wauseon,
Ohio 43567
SYLLABUS:
1.
Under R.C. 517.11, a board of township trustees may, by
majority vote, purchase a columbarium for any cemetery under
the jurisdiction of the township. (1969 Op. Att’y Gen.
No. 69-101, overruled, on the basis of legislative
amendment.)
2.
Under R.C. 505.262, a board of township trustees may contract
for the construction of a columbarium for a cemetery under
the jurisdiction of the township, but only by the unanimous
vote of the board.
Dear
Prosecutor Haselman:
You
have requested an opinion regarding the authority of a board
of township trustees to purchase or construct a columbarium
in a township cemetery that is currently in
use.
1
You ask whether the board may proceed with such purchase or
construction by a majority vote of the board’s
membership, rather than by a unanimous vote. Your question
arises in the context of three statutes, each of which could
be interpreted as providing a board of township trustees
varying degrees of authority in the purchase or construction
of a columbarium, and establishing the level of support
required from the membership of the board of township
trustees. In evaluating the authority of the board in this
situation, you ask us to reconsider language in a previous
opinion, 1969 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 69-101.
Statutory
Scheme: R.C. 517.08; R.C. 517.11; and R.C. 505.262
Three
statutes provide boards of township trustees with varying
degrees of authority to purchase, construct, maintain, or
improve columbaria. The first statute, R.C. 517.08,
authorizes a board of trustees to use proceeds from the sale
of cemetery lots to maintain or to improve entombments,
including columbaria, and provides as follows:
The proceeds arising from the sale of cemetery lots under
section 517.07 of the Revised Code shall be used in
maintaining, improving, beautifying, and embellishing such
grounds, and for maintaining and improving entombments,
including mausoleums, columbariums, and other
interment rights[.] (Emphasis added.)
The
second statute, R.C. 517.11, authorizes a board of township
trustees to purchase, maintain, and improve columbaria, and
levy taxes to cover the costs of such purchase, maintenance,
or improvement. The statute provides as follows:
The board of township trustees shall provide for the
protection and preservation of cemeteries under its
jurisdiction, and shall prohibit interments therein when new
grounds have been procured for township cemeteries or burial
grounds. Where such old cemeteries are in or near village
plats, and the public health is liable to be injured by
further interments therein, the board shall institute suits
to recover possession thereof, remove trespassers therefrom,
and may recover damages for injuries thereto or any part
thereof, or to any fence or hedge enclosing them, or to any
tomb or monument therein.
The board may enclose cemeteries under its
...
