Similar cases seen in other states

The company that owns Memorial Park Cemetery is facing similar legal problems in several other states.

Dudley Gilbert, legal counsel to the Oklahoma State Banking Department, said Mike Graham & Associates faced allegations that it had failed to maintain trust funds to “perpetually care” for graves in four cemeteries it owns in that state.

“He has until this Friday to dispose of the properties himself, or we will pursue a receivership proceeding,” Gilbert said. The receivership proceeding would be similar to the action that gave the city here control over Memorial Park.

In an affidavit filed this week in Lawrence, an official said Georgia had placed 11 Graham-owned cemeteries into receivership in 2002. A spokesman for the Georgia attorney general confirmed that “a number” of cemeteries were involved, though he couldn’t specify the number.

The affidavit – by Natalie Hogan, a special agent in the state’s Consumer Protection Division – asserted that similar cases against Mike Graham & Associates were anticipated in Alabama and Arkansas. Officials in those states did not return calls Wednesday.

Kansas Deputy Atty. Gen. Bryan Brown said the Lawrence lawsuit against Graham was “given impetus” by problems in the other states, “which may portend the fiscal demise of (Graham & Associates) as a viable entity.”

“There’s not a lot of problems in the cemetery industry with these trust funds,” Gilbert said. “Mr. Graham seems to, for whatever reason this year, to have abandoned his properties.”

video

6News video: City takes charge of cemeterytext

Memorial Park put under city’s controltext

Similar cases seen in other statestext

Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery petition (.pdf)text

Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery temporary restraining order (.pdf)text

Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery temporary restraining order part 2 (.pdf)text

Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery notice to patrons (.doc)text

Relatives call for better cemetery care (05-16-05)video

6News video: Residents express anger with officials about cemetery (05-15-05)text

Cemetery woes spur meeting (04-23-05)video

6News video: Maintenance issues still plague local cemetery (04-22-05)text

Cemetery settles 15 complaints (04-08-05)video

6News video: Memorial Park Cemetery owners settle with customers (04-07-05)text

Bill would establish cemetery oversight, limit predatory fees (03-05-05)text

City looks at buying troubled cemetery (02-17-05)video

6News video: City leaders begin budget talks (02-16-05)text

Cemetery probe now in hands of Kline (01-15-05)text

Education, city growth expected to be among big stories in 2005 (01-02-05)video

6News video: Attorney general investigating Lawrence cemetery operations (01-14-05)text

Employees, clients say cemetery ownership lax (11-05-04)text

6News video: Unmarked grave stones spark anger among residents (11-04-04)text

Cemetery fails to meet maintenance requirement (10-14-04)text

6News video: Cemetery instructed to improve maintenance (10-13-04)text

Cemetery maintenance deemed disrespectful (8-24-04)video

6News video: Cemetery maintenance draws complaintstext

Police seek information on cemetery vandalism (08-17-04)text

’05 city budget gains approval (08-11-04)

Timeline of Memorial Park troubles

¢ AUGUST 2004: Two dozen Lawrence residents complain to the Journal-World that the cemetery is poorly maintained. The criticisms emerge after vandalism at the cemetery sparked relatives to check the condition of family graves there.

¢ SEPTEMBER 2004: State officials say they need extra time to complete an audit of the cemetery’s finances. Randall Davis, an Arkansas-based district operations manager for Houston-based Mike Graham & Associates, the firm that owns the cemetery, says the cemetery is in satisfactory shape.

¢ OCTOBER 2004: The Secretary of State’s Office finds that Graham & Associates is 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 company is given until Dec. 31 to comply.

¢ NOVEMBER 2004: Relatives and former cemetery employees say graves were being left unmarked for extended periods because the company was not installing tombstones in a timely manner.

¢ JANUARY: The Secretary of State turns the case over to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, saying Graham & Associates did not comply with the Dec. 31 deadline.

¢ FEBRUARY: Lawrence city commissioners discuss buying the troubled cemetery but indicate they are reluctant to do so.

¢ MARCH: Spurred in part by problems at Memorial Park, an Atchison tombstone maker pushes a bill for more state oversight of the cemetery industry.

¢ APRIL: The Attorney General’s Office says it has settled complaints of shoddy maintenance and poor customer service at the cemetery, resulting in payments by Graham & Associates to 15 individuals with loved ones buried there. The payout averages $3,000 apiece.

¢ MAY 15: About 170 people gather in Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s auditorium to recount allegations of shoddy cemetery management that included poor maintenance, damaged grave markers left unrepaired, and even mismarked graves and burials in the wrong places. City officials and representatives from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office attend.

¢ MAY 17: The city shuts off water to the cemetery, saying the bill hasn’t been paid.

¢ MONDAY: Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline files suit against the owners, saying Memorial Park has been “abandoned” and asking a judge to place the cemetery under control of City Hall.

¢ WEDNESDAY: The case is unsealed, and city crews begin sprucing up the cemetery for Memorial Day weekend.