Under Washington law, there are no specific requirements or standards for public access like day use parks. State law allows each cemetery district to establish its own regulations. Accordingly, public access rules are a matter of local discretion.
Here’s a summary of the applicable law:
Chapter 68.52 RCW is the statute governing public cemeteries and morgues generally. See RCW 68.52.030:
Counties and cities may provide for burial, acquire cemeteries, etc.
Each and every county, town or city, shall have power to provide a hearse and pall for burial of the dead, and to procure and hold lands for burying grounds, and to make regulations and fence the same, and to preserve the monuments erected therein, and to levy and collect the necessary taxes for that purpose, in the same manner as other taxes are levied and collected. [Emphasis added.]
Chapter 68.20 RCW grants cemetery authorities extensive regulatory powers. See the following statutes:
- RCW 68.20.060:
Specific powers—Rule making and enforcement.
A cemetery authority may make, adopt, amend, add to, revise, or modify, and enforce rules and regulations for the use, care, control, management, restriction and protection of all or any part of its cemetery and for the other purposes specified in RCW 68.20.061 through 68.20.067, 68.20.070 and *68.48.080. [Emphasis added.]
*Reviser's note: RCW 68.48.080 was recodified as RCW 68.56.050 pursuant to 1987 c 331 s 89. - RCW 68.20.061:
Specific powers—Control of property.
It may restrict and limit the use of all property within its cemetery, including interment rights. - RCW 68.20.066:
Specific powers—Prevention of improper assemblages.
It may regulate the conduct of persons and prevent improper assemblages in the cemetery. - RCW 68.20.067:
Specific powers—Rules and regulations for general purposes.
It may make and enforce rules and regulations for all other purposes deemed necessary by the cemetery authority for the proper conduct of the business of the cemetery, for the transfer of any plot or the right of interment, and the protection and safeguarding of the premises, and the principles, plans, and ideals on which the cemetery is conducted. [Emphasis added]. - RCW 68.20.070:
Rules and regulations—Posting.
The rules and regulations made pursuant to RCW 68.20.060 shall be plainly printed or typewritten and maintained subject to inspection in the office of the cemetery authority or in such place or places within the cemetery as the cemetery authority may prescribe.
With respect to abandoned cemeteries, there is a right to access for visitation. See RCW 68.60.080:
Abandoned cemetery—Lawful entry purposes.
It is lawful to enter an abandoned cemetery for purposes of:
(1) Burials pursuant to RCW 68.60.070 and associated rules;
(2) Care and maintenance activities authorized under RCW 68.60.030; and
(3) Visitation of graves.
Additionally, historic preservation grant recipients must provide reasonable public access per RCW 27.34.420(7)(c):
Public access to the exterior of properties that are not visible from a public right-of-way must be provided under reasonable terms and circumstances, including the requirement that visits by nonprofit organizations or school groups must be offered at least one day per year. Tribal access must be provided under reasonable terms and circumstances to historic cemeteries in which there are Indian burials.
For more information on cemeteries, see our topic page on Cemeteries and Cemetery Administration.
We also recommend that you discuss this matter with your agency attorney who will be in the best position to advise you further. Our guidance is general and not a substitute for the advice of legal counsel.