Section 8:908 - Abatement of public health or safety risks in abandoned cemeteriesA. A governing body of a municipal or parochial government may authorize the use of that government's labor and resources to abate a public health or safety risk of an abandoned cemetery when the cemetery is located within the jurisdiction of the municipal or parochial government. The abatement of such risk shall take place at the sole and complete discretion of the governing body upon a majority vote finding that the conditions in the abandoned cemetery present a public health or safety risk and that such abatement constitutes a public purpose. For the purposes of this Section, "abandoned cemetery" has the meaning ascribed to it in R.S. 25:933. B.(1) Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted to authorize either of the following: (a) The disturbance of graves or the moving or removal of human remains.(b) The moving or removal of any grave markers, whether temporary, perishable, or otherwise. (2) In the event that exposed human remains are found during abatement activities, the municipal or parochial government or a volunteer who is undertaking the abatement shall notify the appropriate state authorities in accordance with R.S. 8:680. A municipal or parochial government employee or volunteer shall notify the board during the course of an abatement if the employee or volunteer finds that burials are continuing to be made in an otherwise abandoned cemetery.C. In the event of a declared disaster under R.S. 29:721 et seq., the parish president or the chief elected official of a municipality, as appropriate based upon a cemetery's location, may abate, pursuant and subject to R.S. 29:726.4, any public safety risk or public health hazard in a public or private cemetery caused by the declared disaster.Added by Acts 2024, No. 450,s. 1, eff. 6/3/2024.