Town Cemetery Regulations

Funeral homes are responsible for gravesite maintenance during the first six months after burial. Within those six months, if a grave space sinks below surrounding ground, becomes eroded or otherwise becomes a problem due to lack of proper restoration or stabilization, the town cemetery administrator will notify the responsible funeral director and request that corrective action be taken within 10 days. After the six-month period, the town is responsible for maintaining gravesites.

The Town Cemetery is open to the public throughout the year from sunrise until sunset. No person may enter the cemetery at any other time.

No person may plant, prune, or remove any plant located within the cemetery. No person may place on or around any grave site a fence, border, picture, toy, handmade ornament or other self-described memoriam between March 1 and Oct. 31. Town staff may remove any tree, shrub or other plant that hinders the maintenance of any part of the cemetery. Town staff also may remove any flowers or plants from the cemetery as soon as they deteriorate or otherwise become unsightly.

Decorative items including artificial flowers, flower vases and wreaths may not be placed on the ground around gravestones between March 1 and Nov. 1. Small flags can be placed in the ground around gravesites during the weeks of Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

The Certificate of Burial Right entitles the owner to use the designated spaces as a place of burial for any person, subject to the terms and conditions of the Hillsborough Cemetery Ordinance. Upon the death of the owner of a Certificate of Burial Right, all rights evidenced by such a certificate shall pass to the owners heirs, legatees or devisees in the same manner as other interests in personal property.

All cemetery plots have been sold. Differential fees are charged according to whether the person intended to be buried in the space is a bona-fide resident of the town or owns property inside the town limits at the time such burial right is purchased. The fee for each burial plot is $500 for a town resident and $1,000 for a nonresident. The same fees apply whether the burial plot will be used for an interment or cremation. A Certificate of Burial Right will be issued to the person who purchases a burial right. The certificate identifies the purchaser and the specific lots and plots to which the certificate applies.

No person may sell or exchange any burial right for a profit or gain. No bona-fide town resident may purchase or otherwise acquire a burial right at an in-town rate for the intended burial of an out-of-town person.

No grave may be opened and no burial may take place in a town cemetery except by a licensed funeral director or his employees under the supervision of the town. The town shall be notified at least one work day in advance of any funeral for which a grave will be opened. Graves must be marked ahead of time by the town. The town will not mark graves on weekends or holidays that fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Each burial plot is limited to one of the following:

• The interment of one human body.
• The interment of one human body and one cremation urn.
• The interment of no more than four cremation urns.

Residents should not contact the town to mark gravesites or monuments. Funeral homes and monument companies are responsible for making these arrangments.

No monument or marker can be placed on any site except under the supervision of and according to the instructions of the town.

Grave space markers must be composed of either a marble or granite base and shall be a maximum base size of 66 inches by 18 inches (double) and 28 inches by 16 inches (single). No marker composed of a brick or concrete base or border shall be permitted. All markers in zones 9, 10, 11 and 12 must be flat markers level with the surrounding ground.

If any monument or marker in the town’s cemetery becomes unsafe, unsightly or in need or repair or resetting, the town will attempt to notify the owner of the relevant Certificate of Burial Right and request that the needed repairs be made under the town's supervision. The town is not obligated to place, replace or repair any monument or marker in the Town Cemetery, although case-by-case repairs are considered.

Residents should not contact the town to mark gravesites or monuments. Funeral homes and monument companies are responsible for making these arrangements.

As provided in G.S. 14-140, if any person shall, unlawfully and on purpose, remove from its place any monument of marble, stone, brass, wood or other material erected for the purpose of designating the spot where any dead body is interred, or for the purpose of preserving and perpetuating the memory, name, fame, birth, age or death of any person, whether situated in or out of the common burying ground, or shall unlawfully and on purpose break or deface such a monument, or alter the letters, marks or inscription thereof, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

No person may drive any motor vehicle of any kind in any cemetery except on marked roads. An exception is made for equipment necessary for grave preparation or monument setting. No person may drive any motor vehicle or park any motor vehicle in any cemetery unless engaged in activities consistent with the use of a cemetery.

No person may take any dog (unless on a leash), horse, or other animal into a town cemetery.

No person may post or attach any bills, posters, placards, pictures, or any form of political or commercial advertising within the cemetery, or on the inside or outside of any wall or fence enclosing any cemetery.