A Lawrence cemetery that has been dogged by complaints of shoddy maintenance and customer service is now being investigated by the Kansas Attorney General’s office.

A spokesman at the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office confirmed today that the department had turned over its investigation of Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery, 1517 E. 15th St., to Kansas Atty Gen. Phill Kline’s office.

In late-October the Secretary of State’s Office found the owner of the cemetery, Houston-based Mike Graham & Associates, was not complying with a state law that required private cemeteries to deposit 15 percent — or a minimum of $25 per plot — from burial plot sales into a permanent maintenance fund.

The Secretary of State’s Office gave the company until Dec. 31 to bring the fund up to the required levels.

“They did not comply,” said Jesse Borjon, a spokesman with the Secretary of State’s Office.

The office forwarded the matter to the Attorney General’s office on Monday. Whitney Watson, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, declined to give specifics about the investigation, but said the case could lead to the cemetery being placed under the care of a new operator.

Randall Davis, the district operations manager for Mike Graham & Associates, declined to comment on any matters related to the cemetery.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Saturday’s Journal-World.