# Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-302: Municipal corporations - Power to condemn - Compensation for condemnation - Taking cemetery land > Arkansas · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-302 ## Section - **Citation:** Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-302 - **Heading:** Municipal corporations - Power to condemn - Compensation for condemnation - Taking cemetery land - **Jurisdiction:** Arkansas - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** AR Code / Title 18 / Chapter 15 / Subchapter 3 / Section 18-15-302 ## Text (a) There shall be included in the award of compensation and damages for taking land occupied by a cemetery the reasonable cost of a new site of at least equal size. The new site shall be approved by the State Board of Health and also by the circuit court in which the condemnation proceedings are instituted. (b) (1) The order and judgment condemning a cemetery shall require the municipality, at its own expense, to remove all bodies, tombstones, and markers from the site of the original cemetery, to reinter the bodies in the new site, and to properly reset the tombstones and markers in the new site. (2) The court may require the municipality to deposit into the registry of the court a sum found by the court to be sufficient to ensure the performance of the obligation by the municipality. (3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent a surviving spouse or next of kin of a person buried in the cemetery from removing the body to another cemetery selected by him or her, the municipality paying the reasonable cost thereof, provided that the cost under this section, if demanded by the next of kin, shall not be less than the amount paid by the municipality for the same service when bodies are removed to a cemetery selected by the municipality. (c) If any power, oil, gas, or any other public utility facilities shall be flooded by such an impounding lake, the lines may be likewise condemned, and the award of compensation and damages shall include the reasonable cost of relocating the power, oil, gas, or other public utility facility. (d) If any portion of any county road will be flooded by an impounding lake, the municipality shall pay to the county the cost of relocating that portion of road. Acts 1875, No. 1, § 74, p. 1; 1955, No. 53, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 35-902. (a) There shall be included in the award of compensation and damages for taking land occupied by a cemetery the reasonable cost of a new site of at least equal size. The new site shall be approved by the State Board of Health and also by the circuit court in which the condemnation proceedings are instituted. (b) (1) The order and judgment condemning a cemetery shall require the municipality, at its own expense, to remove all bodies, tombstones, and markers from the site of the original cemetery, to reinter the bodies in the new site, and to properly reset the tombstones and markers in the new site. (2) The court may require the municipality to deposit into the registry of the court a sum found by the court to be sufficient to ensure the performance of the obligation by the municipality. (3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent a surviving spouse or next of kin of a person buried in the cemetery from removing the body to another cemetery selected by him or her, the municipality paying the reasonable cost thereof, provided that the cost under this section, if demanded by the next of kin, shall not be less than the amount paid by the municipality for the same service when bodies are removed to a cemetery selected by the municipality. (1) The order and judgment condemning a cemetery shall require the municipality, at its own expense, to remove all bodies, tombstones, and markers from the site of the original cemetery, to reinter the bodies in the new site, and to properly reset the tombstones and markers in the new site. (2) The court may require the municipality to deposit into the registry of the court a sum found by the court to be sufficient to ensure the performance of the obligation by the municipality. its own expense, to remove all bodies, tombstones, and markers from the site of the original cemetery, to reinter the bodies in the new site, and to properly reset the tombstones and markers in the new site. (2) The court may require the municipality to deposit into the registry of the court a sum found by the court to be sufficient to ensure the performance of the obligation by the municipality. (3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent a surviving spouse or next of kin of a person buried in the cemetery from removing the body to another cemetery selected by him or her, the municipality paying the reasonable cost thereof, provided that the cost under this section, if demanded by the next of kin, shall not be less than the amount paid by the municipality for the same service when bodies are removed to a cemetery selected by the municipality. (c) If any power, oil, gas, or any other public utility facilities shall be flooded by such an impounding lake, the lines may be likewise condemned, and the award of compensation and damages shall include the reasonable cost of relocating the power, oil, gas, or other public utility facility. (d) If any portion of any county road will be flooded by an impounding lake, the municipality shall pay to the county the cost of relocating that portion of road. Acts 1875, No. 1, § 74, p. 1; 1955, No. 53, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 35-902. ## Nearby sections - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-301 Municipal corporations - Power to condemn generally - Definitions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-301.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-302 Municipal corporations - Power to condemn - Compensation for condemnation - Taking cemetery land](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-302.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-303 Municipal corporations - Power to condemn - Proceedings - Controversy](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-303.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-304 Hearing](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-304.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-305 Payment of assessment - Disputes](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-305.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-306 Verdict by jury](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-306.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-307 Compensation for and possession of property](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-307.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-308 Amount of award](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-308.md) - [Ark. Code Ann. § 18-15-309 Flood control improvements](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-309.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_AR_T18_C15_S3_S18-15-302. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.