The Attorney General’s Office has settled complaints of shoddy maintenance and poor customer service at Lawrence’s Memorial Park Cemetery, resulting in payments by the owner to 15 individuals with loved ones buried there.

Whitney Watson, a spokesman for Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline, said Thursday the office negotiated the settlement with the cemetery owner, Houston-based Mike Graham & Associates. The average payment will be $3,000 apiece.

“We’re hoping that this will resolve the matter,” Watson said. “We would hope that the consumers are satisfied.”

But Watson said continued problems could force the cemetery into receivership, meaning operations would be turned over to a government entity such as the city of Lawrence or Douglas County.

Despite the settlement, some critics of the cemetery said they were hoping the takeover scenario played out.

“We were hoping that they would make them get rid of it and put it into the hands of somebody who would take care of it,” said Nina Bair, a Lawrence resident who filed a maintenance complaint with Kline’s office. “It is not going to get better because (the owner) is not in town to see what is being done. He’s already had plenty of time to fix those roads and everything.”

The problems first came to light in August, when about two dozen people told the Journal-World the cemetery was infrequently mowed and that roads and trees were not properly maintained. Throughout the summer and fall, there were grievances that graves were being left unmarked for extended periods because the company was not installing tombstones in a timely manner.

That led to complaints filed with the Attorney General’s Office — and settled Thursday — under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

Watson said the settlement did not address whether the company was meeting state requirements that private cemeteries deposit 15 percent — or a minimum of $25 per plot — from burial plot sales into a permanent maintenance fund. Watson said that matter would be referred back to the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office for a new review.

“However, we have been assured by Mr. Graham and his office that they fully plan to comply with the state statutes and state law going forward,” Watson said.

If the fund is not properly maintained for at least a 90-day period, the cemetery could be placed into receivership.

Ron House, who filed a complaint after his son’s grave went unmarked for nearly six months, said he thought the settlement was a good sign.

“If he is offering a cash settlement to some folks, that’s great, but he needs to follow through with the maintenance and keep things up better,” said House, of Norman, Okla. “They need someone to stay on them, and I’ll do that. They’ll be tired of hearing from me.”

Watson declined to release the names of individuals who would receive the payments. He said checks would be mailed after an April 14 meeting with officials from Mike Graham & Associates. Bair and House said they hadn’t heard if they would be receiving payments.

A receptionist at Mike Graham & Associates said no one from the company was available Thursday to comment on the settlement.

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