Rules and Regulations
These Ketchum Cemetery Governing Rules & Regulations were updated December 2022. The Ketchum Cemetery District serves the county from East Fork north with certain areas of Sun Valley exempt. KETCHUM CEMETERY DISTRICT 1026 NORTH MAIN STREET, KETCHUM, ID 83340 O: 208.726.9201 We welcome and encourage the public to visit the Ketchum cemetery. It is the desire of the Ketchum Cemetery District Board to promote the feeling of pride, peacefulness and solace that a beautiful cemetery should suggest. Introduction The Pioneer section of the Ketchum cemetery dates back prior to the late 1800’s. Sagebrush covered the cemetery grounds until 1954, when the Governor of Idaho appointed the first cemetery board, who in turn formed the Ketchum Cemetery District. Subsequent improvements included landscaping with grass and the installation of an automatic sprinkling system, that finally replaced the need to carry water by bucket to individual graves for Memorial Day decorations. The regularly updated rules and regulations are provided to allow for the orderly maintenance and upkeep of this facility and to safeguard all who use and visit the cemetery. You are invited to contact the cemetery manager for further clarification of any regulation. Lots 1. All maps, plats, interment records, diagrams, and files are located at the cemetery office, located at 1026 N. Main Street, Ketchum, Idaho 83340 2. All lots shall be held in accordance with the laws of the State, and the Bylaws, rules and regulations of the Ketchum Cemetery District now in force or which may be hereafter adopted. No lots or graves shall be used for any purpose other than the burial of human remains. 3. The Cemetery District is a taxing district. All property within the District must be assessed equally in proportion to its assessed valuation for cemetery maintenance and improvement. The District reserves the right of choice to sell lots or not to potential purchasers who live outside the taxing district. The grounds are financed by monies collected annually from taxes assessed to property owners within the district and the sale of lots. All lots in the cemetery are the property of the State of Idaho, overseen by the Cemetery District. Purchase of a lot affords the buyer the privilege of interring the remains or cremains in a grave site. The ground above the grave will be maintained by cemetery personnel. Rules and regulations governing the cemetery grounds are set forth in the Rules and Regulations. 4. The Cemetery District will decide the ownership and location of questionable or disputed lots and plots of old unmarked burials. In this Pioneer Cemetery there is an unfortunate possibility of a lot being sold in error. If this occurs, another lot will be made available at no additional charge. A maximum of four cremation burials may be placed on a full lot. 5. Individual lots or a maximum of one plot, which consists of four (4) grave sites, may be sold to one purchaser family. Lots in the cemetery shall be conveyed to the purchaser by deed. No deed for any lot shall be issued, nor shall any right of ownership pass to the purchaser until the purchase price is fully paid. A duplicate replacement deed may be issued on submission of satisfactory proof of destruction or loss. No lot shall be sold except back to the District for the original purchase price. 6. All disinterments are strictly governed by State law. They will be completed upon the filing of the State Disinterment Permit and after payment in advance to the District. Only authorized persons will be allowed on the premises when disinterments are made. 7. When a grave is vacated through the removal of a body, the use of this ground shall revert immediately to the cemetery district. If the body is moved to another lot, it will be considered a “like for like” exchange, with no additional monies owed other than for the cost of moving the body. Columbarium 8. Added to the Cemetery in 2008, the Columbarium is a separate building on the west side of the Cemetery and is designed to hold no more than two urns per niche. The name of the deceased is inscribed on the face plate at the expense of the designated owner. Interment 9. All excavations, digging of graves and cremation sites, as well as grading and sodding of lots shall be performed at the direction of the cemetery manager. A permit for burial may be granted to an owner or to his/her heirs. In all cases of interment in lots, a written permit from the owner of the lot, legal heir, or a duly authorized representative, must be filed with the cemetery manager before such interment will be permitted. A fax copy will be acceptable when followed immediately by a original signed copy. 10. All burials require an outer container. Only approved vaults are permitted for full burials. All vaults shall be compacted along sides to the top with a 95% compaction level, in order to eliminate air pockets. 11. No full burial is permitted in a lot where a cremation burial has been permitted previously. Only one full interment is allowed in one lot. Burials will not take place on Sundays or holidays Fees 12. Before opening of the gravesite may take place, the District requires that full pre-payment by the responsible party be made with the District at least 2 days in advance including separate charges for the lot, and for opening and closing the grave. 13. There are standard charges for lots and for opening and closing graves. Cemetery personnel will make every effort to inform the lot purchaser of a potential problem in advance of an interment. Higher winter burial fees reflect additional costs created by seasonal weather conditions. Funeral Directors 14. Funeral Directors must furnish the Cemetery with a proper burial permit and other necessary vital statistics required for a complete interment record before such burial will be permitted, as well as to comply in every respect with the rules and regulations of this Cemetery and all State laws and regulations now in force or that may be adopted in the future. The District requires a minimum of 5 business days notice before arranging for an interment. The burial service shall be coordinated with the cemetery manager as to suitable day and hour for interment. 15. Funeral Directors must notify the district office of the accurate vault measurements in advance of the grave opening and be responsible for the setting up and taking down of any added grave site enhancements. Funeral processions will be entirely under the direction of the officers of the Cemetery. No vehicles shall go no more than 5 miles per hour. All parking must be done on existing roadways. Casket bearers are the responsibility of the family or Funeral Director. |
Markers
16. The District must be consulted before the placing of any marker. There are some restrictions and regulations as to placement, height, overall size and material of the marker and headstone. All markers or headstones that exceed 28 inches in height must be approved by the District. They shall be made of marble, granite, native stone or bronze, due to their durability in this climate, placed on a concrete base with the top flush with ground level and limited to a maximum of 5 feet wide on a single lot. The placement of the monument shall leave a minimum room of six inches around the base for flowers and personal mementos. All upright markers must be placed at the west end of the grave, facing east. Cremation markers are required to be flush with the ground. If a family monument is preferred, the same marker rules apply as for a full interment. Enclosures of any kind, coping around the lot, permanent structures, either movable or fastened objects including but not limited to chairs, settees, awnings, wire or rockwork are prohibited. 17. The Cemetery District assumes no responsibility for temporary marking of graves nor for the care or replacement of temporary markers or other markers as heretofore mentioned. Every grave must be marked in some approved manner after the interment of any body. Within one year of burial a permanent headstone or engraved Columbarium niche plate shall be installed at the expense of the designated owner. In the absence of a permanent marker, the District reserves the right to place a flat, permanent marker with the deceased's name only on the grave at the end of that period. A security deposit will be charged at the time of the burial, to be refunded as soon as a permanent headstone is placed by the designated owner within one year of burial unless prior approval for a delay is received. Memorial Wall / Cubes 18. Designed for an inscription in memory of the deceased in place of a headstone if the actual remains are placed at another cemetery. Liability 19. The Cemetery District will use reasonable discretion in engaging competent and experienced workmen and will insure that the work is done with customary care. Every reasonable effort will be made to protect the cemetery grounds, monuments and markers. However, the district disclaims any responsibility or liability for accident or damage resulting from the ordinary hazards of natural elements or of other normal cemetery maintenance work, including annual spraying and fertilizing and any acts of vandalism. The District does not assume any liability for accident or damage to persons or property due to defects of machinery, implements, tools and equipment. Flowers, baskets and other personal property are placed in the cemetery at the owner’s risk. 20. No mounds will be allowed over graves, whether sodded or not, in order that flat lawns are consistent throughout the cemetery to facilitate maintenance. Plant Restrictions 21. The planting of trees, shrubs, plants or gardens is strictly prohibited either inside or outside of cemetery property. If any existing trees or shrubs on any lot pose a problem to adjacent lots or roadways because of roots or branches, become unsightly as a result of insect damage or otherwise create a hazard for necessary property maintenance, necessary steps will be taken to trim or remove them. 22. Any flowers, containers or personal mementos not on cement headstone bases or on the markers themselves will be removed by cemetery personnel before the weekly lawn mowing. Commencing on Friday prior to Memorial Day, a traditional grave decorating day, any flowers or containers left on a grave site must be picked up before the Monday after Memorial Day, when flowers will be discarded and containers will be stored in the office area for retrieval by the owner. General 23. Gathering of artificial or fresh flowers from a grave shall be limited to cemetery employees or lot owners who remove their own flowers from their grave sites. It is illegal to break, mutilate, or deface any monument. 24. Loitering, parties or picnics shall not be permitted anywhere within the cemetery, either on or around grave sites. No alcoholic beverages, including beer, soda cans, bottles or glass of any kind, are allowed. 25. No advertisements of any form or soliciting shall be permitted in the cemetery. 26.No demonstrations or assemblies other than scheduled funerals or memorial services will be allowed on cemetery grounds. 27. All animals are prohibited from cemetery grounds, except for leashed service animals (seeing eye dogs, hearing dogs or animals for mobility impaired persons). 28. Visitors are reminded that these grounds are sacredly devoted to the interment of the dead, and that a strict observation of proper decorum will be expected of all who enter. 29. The cemetery manager has entire charge of the cemetery. He or she along with the officers and employees of the district are authorized and directed to remove any and all persons who commit any indecorum or violate the cemetery rules. 30. All rules and regulations heretofore adopted, which are contrary to, or in conflict with these herein contained, are hereby rescinded and declared void. These rules and regulations are subject to change by the Ketchum Cemetery District Board of Directors at its discretion at any time and without notice. Gaelic Blessing May the roads rise to meet you. May the wind be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; The rain fall soft upon your fields. And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand. Ketchum Cemetery District 208.726.9201 |