Rules & Regulations

Burial in Liberty Memorial Cemetery shall be limited to persons who are related by blood, marriage, or legal adoption to a person already interred in Liberty Memorial Cemetery.

For purposes of this rule, an eligible relationship may include: Spouse; Parent or stepparent; Child or stepchild; Sibling; Grandparent; Grandchild; Great-grandparent or great-grandchild; Aunt or uncle; Niece or nephew; Cousin; A person related through legal adoption; or Another familial relationship recognized and approved by the Board.

Marriage creates a qualifying family relationship for purposes of burial eligibility.

The Board may require reasonable documentation establishing the relationship to a person already buried in the Cemetery.

Acceptable documentation may include birth certificates, marriage records, death certificates, obituaries, family records, genealogical records, court records, or other evidence acceptable to the Board.

Any exception to the family relationship requirement must receive prior written approval of the Board of Trustees.

An exception granted in one case shall not establish a precedent or create a right to burial for another person.

The Board of Trustees shall have final authority to determine eligibility for burial in Liberty Memorial Cemetery.

No person may select, occupy, reserve, transfer, or otherwise claim a burial plot without authorization from the Cemetery.

All burial locations shall be confirmed by the Board or its designated representative before excavation begins.

A person meeting the Cemetery's eligibility requirements may submit a written request to reserve a burial plot.

A reservation is not effective until approved in writing by the Board.

To maintain a long-term reservation of an unoccupied burial plot, an approved permanent headstone or monument identifying the person for whom the plot is reserved must be installed at the reserved plot and a reservation is not final and effective until the installation of such.

The Board may establish a reasonable deadline for installation as a condition of approving the reservation.

A reserved burial plot or burial privilege may not be sold, assigned, transferred, or conveyed to another person without prior written approval from the Board.

No person acquires ownership of Cemetery real property merely by receiving permission to be buried or by reserving a burial space.

Burial spaces shall not be reserved, transferred, or used for financial gain or speculation.

No grave shall be opened and no burial shall occur without prior authorization from the Cemetery.

The Cemetery may require the funeral director, family, or person responsible for the burial to provide all documents reasonably necessary to establish lawful disposition and Cemetery authorization.

All burials shall comply with applicable Arkansas law and regulations governing the disposition of human remains.

The funeral director or person legally responsible for disposition shall be responsible for obtaining any permit, authorization, death record, or other documentation required by law.

The exact location of every grave shall be approved before excavation.

The family, funeral home, excavator, or other person conducting the burial shall not independently relocate or alter the burial plot designated by the Cemetery.

All grave excavation shall be performed in a safe and professional manner.

Any damage caused to Cemetery property, roads, monuments, markers, utilities, landscaping, or neighboring graves during excavation or burial shall be repaired at the expense of the responsible party.

Two burials within a single grave may be permitted only with prior written approval of the Board.

When a stacked or double-depth burial is approved, the family requesting the arrangement shall be responsible for: ensuring adequate grave depth; coordinating excavation; supervising and documenting the first burial sufficiently to permit the second burial; protecting adjacent graves and monuments; paying any additional excavation or related expenses; and complying with any requirements imposed by the funeral home, excavator, governmental authority, or Board.

Written approval of a stacked burial in no way implicates the Cemetery's responsibility for the above described tasks or associated costs for either the first or second burial which remain the responsibility of the family requesting and receiving written permission for such.

Permission to inter cremated human remains shall be obtained in the same manner as the burial of other remains described in Article III and requires prior authorization from the Cemetery.

Consistent with the provisions of Article III, locations for interment of cremated remains must be approved prior to interment.

Only with prior written approval shall cremated remains be placed within an existing or designated grave.

Scattering cremated remains on Cemetery property is prohibited unless specifically authorized in writing by the Board.

Each new burial shall have a permanent grave marker or headstone.

The location, dimensions, foundation, and installation of monuments or markers are subject to Cemetery approval. Such details are posted to the Cemetery's website.

Monuments shall be installed in a manner that provides reasonable stability and does not interfere with adjoining graves, mowing, drainage, roadways, or Cemetery maintenance.

The Board may require a concrete foundation or footer of appropriate dimensions for any monument.

The Cemetery is not responsible for deterioration, settling, weathering, vandalism, faulty installation, or damage to privately owned monuments except to the extent required by applicable law.

No person may intentionally move, alter, damage, destroy, or remove a grave marker without lawful authority.

Fresh flowers, floral arrangements, wreaths, sprays, easels, baskets, ribbons, and similar funeral decorations may remain at a grave for seven (7) days following burial.

After seven days, the Cemetery may remove and dispose of these items without notice.

Fresh-cut flowers placed after the funeral may remain until they become wilted, faded, unsightly, or interfere with Cemetery maintenance.

Artificial flowers may be placed in permanent monument vases or other locations approved by the Cemetery.

Artificial flowers that become faded, broken, deteriorated, scattered, or unsightly may be removed by the Cemetery without notice.

Seasonal decorations may be placed on graves but must be removed within thirty (30) days after the applicable holiday passes.

Any seasonal decoration remaining after that period may be removed and discarded by Cemetery personnel.

The Board may designate one or more general Cemetery cleanup dates each year.

All temporary decorations, artificial flowers, containers, and other items may be removed during a scheduled cleanup if they are deteriorated, abandoned, unsafe, or interfere with maintenance.

The following are prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Board: glass containers; breakable objects; loose rocks or gravel; fences or borders around individual graves; wire fencing; landscape timbers; unauthorized benches; large freestanding decorations; items attached to trees; open flames; items creating a mowing or tripping hazard; and any object the Board determines to be dangerous, inappropriate, deteriorated, or an unreasonable interference with Cemetery maintenance.

Items prohibited by these Rules or presenting a safety or maintenance hazard may be removed and discarded without notice.

The Cemetery assumes no responsibility for decorations that are lost, stolen, damaged, removed, or discarded.

No tree, shrub, bush, flower bed, permanent plant, edging, border, or other landscaping may be planted or installed on a grave or Cemetery property without prior Board approval.

Unauthorized plantings may be trimmed or removed when necessary for maintenance, safety, drainage, access, or preservation of Cemetery grounds.

The Board shall oversee general maintenance of Cemetery property as resources permit.

Maintenance may include: mowing; trimming; brush removal; road maintenance; drainage and erosion control; removal of dead vegetation; general cleanup; maintenance of common areas; and preservation projects.

Families are encouraged to help maintain family monuments and graves, provided their work complies with Cemetery rules.

No person may use herbicides, pesticides, excavation equipment, power equipment, or perform substantial alterations to Cemetery property without authorization.

Visitors shall conduct themselves in a respectful manner appropriate to a cemetery.

The following are prohibited: vandalism; littering or dumping; disorderly conduct; excessive noise; recreational activities inconsistent with the character of a cemetery; unauthorized commercial activity; damage to monuments, graves, trees, landscaping, roads, or Cemetery property; unauthorized excavation; unauthorized removal of Cemetery property; and any conduct that interferes with a funeral, burial, visitation, or Cemetery maintenance.

Children should be appropriately supervised.

Vehicles shall remain on established Cemetery roads or other areas designated for vehicle use unless authorized by the Cemetery.

Vehicles shall not be driven or parked upon graves, burial plots, landscaped areas, or other areas where damage may occur.

Access may be temporarily restricted when necessary because of weather, funerals, maintenance, construction, safety concerns, or ground conditions.

Reasonable access to the Cemetery shall be maintained in accordance with applicable Arkansas law.

ONLY SERVICE DOGS ARE ALLOWED

Service animals are defined as DOGS that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

A service animal must be under the control of its handler. Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless the individual's disability prevents using these devices or these devices interfere with the service animal's safe, effective performance of tasks. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls. NOTE: "Pets" and "Emotional Support Animals" ARE NOT Service Animals and are not included in the Americans With Disabilities Act and are NOT allowed on LMC property.

For more information, visit the official ADA guidance on Service Animals: ada.gov/topics/service-animals

Vandalism of a Cemetery can be a Class C Felony - AR Code § 5‑38‑203 / AR Code § 5-38-207 No person may intentionally damage, deface, disturb, excavate, remove, relocate, or alter any grave, monument, marker, memorial, Cemetery structure, or Cemetery property without lawful authority and Cemetery approval.

Suspected vandalism, theft, unauthorized excavation, or damage will be reported to law enforcement.

No human remains shall be disinterred, moved, or reinterred without compliance with Arkansas law and prior notification to the Cemetery.

All required governmental permits, next-of-kin authorizations, court orders, funeral-director involvement, and expenses associated with disinterment or reinterment shall be the responsibility of the requesting party.

Due to the historical nature of the Cemetery, records of interred individuals are severely limited. In many cases, records consist of information available on existing headstones. Further, a number of those interred have no markers or anonymous markers.

To the extent that records exist for burials prior to the effective date of these Rules and Regulations, the Cemetery shall endeavor to maintain such records.

After the effective date of these Rules and Regulations, for new burials, the Cemetery will endeavor to maintain appropriate records which may contain the following information: the name of each person interred; date of birth, when known; date of death; date of burial, when known; grave or plot location; reserved plots; the person authorizing or requesting burial; approved stacked burials; approved plot transfers or changes; and other information the Board considers appropriate.

This retention of information and records is a courtesy provided by the Cemetery and shall not be construed as an obligation or right of those with family interred therein.

Cemetery grounds are inherently uneven and present unique outdoor hazards. Visitors and persons entering upon the grounds of the Cemetery explicitly assume all risks associated with entering the property including but not limited to uneven ground (including sunken graves, holes, depressions, slopes, exposed tree roots, and soft or muddy ground), issues with walking surfaces (including wet, slippery, icy, unpaved or uneven pathways, grass walkways, or stairs), structural hazards (including historic, weathered, loose, or unstable headstones, monuments, markers, and previously installed borders), environmental hazards (including falling tree branches, wildlife, stinging insects, and varying weather conditions), and ongoing maintenance activities.

Families, contractors, monument companies, funeral homes, and other persons performing work within the Cemetery are responsible for damage caused by their activities.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the owners, operators, trustees, employees, and agents of the Cemetery shall not be held liable for any personal injury, illness, death, property damage, or property loss sustained by any visitor while on the grounds of the Cemetery regardless of whether such injury or damage arises from natural conditions, the actions of third parties, or the passive condition of the grounds. Further, nothing in these Rules shall waive any legal right, duty, defense, or immunity available to Liberty Memorial Cemetery or its Board of Trustees under Arkansas law.

The Board of Trustees is authorized to administer and enforce these Rules and Regulations.

The Board may: approve or deny burial applications; determine burial eligibility; approve or deny plot reservations; determine grave and monument locations; approve or deny stacked burials; remove prohibited or deteriorated decorations; establish maintenance and cleanup schedules; temporarily restrict access when necessary; resolve disputes concerning Cemetery operations; and adopt additional policies consistent with these Rules.

The Board may make reasonable exceptions when unusual circumstances warrant, provided the exception is documented in the Cemetery's records.

These Rules are intended to operate consistently with applicable Arkansas law governing cemeteries, disposition of human remains, grave markers, cemetery access, disinterment, and nonprofit organizations.

If any provision of these Rules conflicts with controlling Arkansas law, the controlling law shall govern and the remaining provisions shall remain in effect.

The Board of Trustees may amend these Rules and Regulations by vote of the Board.

The current version of the Rules shall supersede all previous Cemetery rules and policies except for individual burial or reservation arrangements that the Board has expressly agreed in writing to grandfather.