Hanover County Cemetery/Grave Site Location Reporting

In an effort to offer some protection to cemetery and grave sites, Hanover County is implementing a process where property owners may notify the County of cemetery/grave sites on their property. Although all information maintained by the County is of public record, the County only intends to use cemetery/grave site location information in its plan of development review process as a means to protect the sites. However, all information submitted to the County will become the property of the County, will become part of the public record, and may be used in any manner deemed appropriate by Hanover County.

In order for the location of a cemetery/grave site to be fully recognized by the County, the site must be noted on a surveyed plat recorded in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office, where all legal deeds and plats of property in the County are kept. A copy of the recorded plat should be submitted to the County along with a completed Hanover County Cemetery/Grave Site Location Form. Incomplete information will cause delays in recognizing the cemetery/grave site location. In order for the County to assist the owner with protecting the sites, the owner of the subject property should fill out this form. Assistance in filling out the form is available at the front counter in the Planning Department.

Since the County realizes that there is a cost involved in fully complying with this process, an alternative protection method is also available. As an alternative to submitting a record plat with the location of the cemetery/grave site, any individual may submit pertinent documentation on the location of a cemetery/grave site. However, although the County will note that a cemetery may be located on the property, without the exact location noted on a recorded plat, the County will not be able to fully ensure that the cemetery site will be protected from future development.

The information submitted should at a minimum include the owner name, tax parcel number, a sketch plan noting the cemetery/grave location, names of individuals buried on the site, dates of the graves, and related documentation (photographs, historical documents, etc.), that support the location of the cemetery/grave site on the subject property. If you are reporting a cemetery/grave site on a property for which you are not the owner of record, you MUST provide supporting documentation. If the information submitted to the County is not sufficient enough for the County to make a determination on the location of the cemetery/grave site, then the County will not acknowledge the location in any of its records and any materials submitted will be returned.

Property owners who know of a cemetery site on their property or who desire additional information on this program may contact the County’s Geographic Information System office at (804) 365-6171, via email at knelson@co.hanover.va.us, or via mail at Hanover County GIS, P.O. Box 470, Hanover, Virginia 23069.