From the Cleveland Daily Banner: Tennessee state Sen. J. Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun) has announced he is working with state legislators and a Tennessee
From the Cleveland Daily Banner: Tennessee state Sen. J. Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun) has announced he is working with state legislators and a Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance oversight board to potentially force cemetery Sunset Memorial Gardens into receivership.
Sunset has been the subject of numerous complaints from loved ones of those interred at the cemetery, who allege the site remains neglected by its owner, Cecil Lawrence Inc., of Dallas, Georgia, despite multiple fines imposed by the state over the past decade.
Lowe, who announced his intent during a meeting with local elected officials at the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce on Friday, July 7, to discuss local topics, said if the cemetery is forced into receivership, the process would involve the state outlining a clear path for the owners to regain control.
“And if they don’t, they’re [the state] is going sell that property to somebody who can care for it.”
Lowe told the Cleveland Daily Banner that while he is unsure of the details required to bring Sunset under state control, he will be working with the TDCI’s Funeral Directors, Embalmers & Burial Services board to determine the next steps.
“I’ve got to appeal to that board,” he said. “Hopefully, if they concur, they’ll make the appropriate moves.”
If the board does place the cemetery into receivership, Lowe said the process could resemble a “custody arrangement, whereas Cecil Lawrence Inc. would have to meet certain conditions to regain control of the site.
“Probably, what [the state] would do is assume control, go in and assess and say, ‘Here’s the things you need to do in order to get your property back.’”
Critics claim overgrown grass, mud-strewn grave plots and markers, weed-choked drainage ditches, crumbling statuary, and unsown grass on grave plots are common conditions at the cemetery, despite repeated complaints over the past decade.
During the past two weeks, family members have also complained on social media regarding a mowing company they say has damaged grave markers.
Cleveland Mayor Brooks, who also attended the meeting, said he regularly attends funerals at Sunset.
“It’s in horrible disarray,” he told Lowe. “The state keeps fining them, but the owners just write checks and make [the problems] go away. It never fixes them.”
Brooks said families of loved ones who are buried at Sunset are traumatized twice: first by the deaths of their loved ones, and, second, by the cemetery’s condition.
“They’re traumatized in perpetuity by the lack of care at Sunset,” he said.
This is a developing story. Additional details will be provided in Tuesday’s print and online editions of the Banner.
