2009 Iowa Code
Title 13 - Commerce
Subtitle 1 - Insurance and Related Regulation
CHAPTER 523I - IOWA CEMETERY ACT
523I.508 - MANAGEMENT BY GOVERNMENTAL SUBDIVISIONS.

        523I.508  MANAGEMENT BY GOVERNMENTAL SUBDIVISIONS.
         1.  Political subdivisions as trustees.  Counties, cities,
      irrespective of their form of government, boards of trustees of
      cities to whom the management of municipal cemeteries has been
      transferred by ordinance, and civil townships wholly outside of any
      city, are trustees in perpetuity, and are required to accept,
      receive, and expend all moneys and property donated or left to them
      by bequest for perpetual care, and that portion of interment space
      sales or permanent charges made against interment spaces which has
      been set aside in a perpetual care fund for which there is no other
      acting trustee, shall be used in caring for the property of the donor
      or lot owner who by purchase or otherwise has provided for the
      perpetual care of an interment space in any cemetery, or in
      accordance with the terms of the donation, bequest, or agreement for
      sale and purchase of an interment space, and the money or property
      thus received shall be used for no other purpose.
         2.  Authority to invest funds -- current care charge payments.
      The board of supervisors, mayor and council, or other elected
      governmental body, as the case may be, may receive and invest all
      moneys and property, donated or bequeathed, and that portion of
      cemetery lot sales and permanent charges made against cemetery lots
      which have been set aside in a perpetual care fund, and in so
      investing, shall use the judgment and care under the circumstances
      then prevailing that persons of prudence, discretion, and
      intelligence exercise in the management of their own affairs not in
      regard to speculation but in regard to the permanent disposition of
      their funds, considering the probable income as well as the probable
      safety of their capital.  The trustee of the trust funds has a
      fiduciary duty to make reasonable investment decisions and to
      properly oversee and manage the funds entrusted to the trust fund.
      The income from the investment shall be used in caring for the
      property of the donor in any cemetery, or as provided in the terms of
      the gift or donations or agreement for sale and purchase of a
      cemetery lot.
         All current care charge payments received shall be allocated to
      the perpetual care fund or to the fund paying the costs of cemetery
      operations.  Care charge payments received one year or more after the
      date they were incurred shall be used to fund the cost of operating
      the cemetery.  Care charge payments received one year or more in
      advance of their due date shall be deposited in the perpetual care
      fund.  Interest from the perpetual care fund shall be used for the
      maintenance of both occupied and unoccupied lots or spaces.  Any
      remaining interest may be used for costs of access roads and paths,
      fencing, and general maintenance of the cemetery.  Lots under
      perpetual care shall be maintained in accordance with the cemetery
      covenants of sale.
         3.  Resolution of acceptance -- interest.  Before any part of
      the principal may be invested or used, the county, city, board of
      trustees of a city to whom the management of a municipal cemetery has
      been transferred by ordinance, or civil township shall, by
      resolution, accept the moneys described in subsection 1 and, by
      resolution, shall provide for the payment of interest annually to the
      appropriate fund, or to the cemetery, or the person in charge of the
      cemetery, to be used in caring for or maintaining the individual
      property of the donor in the cemetery, or interment spaces which have
      been sold if provision was made for perpetual care, all in accordance
      with the terms of the donation or bequest, or the terms of the sale
      or purchase of an interment space.
         If there is no person in charge of the cemetery, the income from
      the fund shall be expended under the direction of the board of
      supervisors, city council, board of trustees, or civil township
      trustees, as the case may be, in accordance with the terms of the
      donation or bequest, or the terms of the sale or purchase of an
      interment space.
         4.  Delegates to conventions.  A township having one or more
      cemeteries under its control may designate up to two officials from
      each cemetery as delegates to attend meetings of cemetery officials,
      and certain expenses of the delegates not exceeding twenty-five
      dollars for each delegate, including association dues, may be paid
      out of the cemetery fund of the township.
         5.  Subscribing to publications.  The cemetery officials of
      every township having a cemetery under its control may subscribe to
      one or more publications devoted exclusively to cemetery management,
      and the subscriptions may be paid out of the cemetery fund of the
      township.  

         2005 Acts, ch 128, §48; 2006 Acts, ch 1117, §125
         Referred to in § 636.23