Another Fort Smith Board study session set to discuss cemetery ownership

The Fort Smith Board of Directors will continue the discussion about control of three historic and active cemetery properties in the city again next week at a special called study session following the regular board meeting Dec. 16.

Marty Clark, president and CEO of Fort Smith-based BHC Insurance and volunteer Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. (FSCI) board president, discussed the possibility of the city assuming control over three cemeteries on the north side of Fort Smith during a study session Tuesday (Dec. 9).

The board on Aug. 19 tabled action on taking over the cemetery property. Clark first publicly discussed the issue with the board on July 15.

Roselawn/Holy Cross is off of North O Street and just west of Interstate 540. Forest Park is located off of Midland Boulevard and North 50th Street. Forest Park has at least 26,000 graves, Roselawn has 23,345 graves, and Holy Cross has 3,623 graves.

“It’s our position that it’s very important. It’s a civic obligation that we have. The cemeteries are going to be here in perpetuity, and we think they should be taken care of by the city at a level that they deserve,” Clark said Tuesday.

He said FSCI has talked with the state at length and that if they cannot make payroll, as they could not in November, the state will have to put the cemetery into receivership.

“There will very soon be locks on the gates,” Clark said.

Part of the problem with the cemeteries making enough to stay open is that burials are greatly down, Clark said. In November, there were only two burials, compared to 15 in November 2024, and 20 in November 2023.

“I don’t think this is just a trend. … More people are choosing cremation,” he said.

There was discussion among the board that if the cemeteries were put in receivership, the city would be named by the state as responsible for the care of them. Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said that would not necessarily be the case.

“The state would facilitate the process to name a receiver to operate (the cemeteries). They would not run them,” Dingman said. “We would have to decide if we would be the receiver. They won’t just name us. (The receiver) is typically a local government. It could be the city or the county or someone else.”

Directors Lee Kemp and Neal Martin expressed concern about the city agreeing to take on the care of the cemeteries.

“For me, it’s hard to look at pulling back in all the personnel and all the budget cuts that we have had to look at for the balance of the budget going forward and then add this expense on at this point,” Kemp said.

The board is facing financial pressures and to end what was recently described as a “structurally imbalanced general fund budget.” The board is set to vote on a 2026 budget at its Dec. 16 regular meeting.

On the flip side, Directors Christina Catsavis and André Good discussed the need of the city to take care of those citizens who have died and are buried in the cemeteries.

“We need to sober up and find a way to get it done. We need to look at what it says about us. That we are not willing to take care of our dead is shameful,” Catsavis said.

Martin said there are unknowns that need to be considered like the idea of a private company taking ownership of the cemeteries. He said Legacy Memorial Group has shown interest in taking over the cemeteries. Martin said he understood some of the concern with private ownership is there will be price gouging and people will not be able to afford to bury their loved ones. The company has told him they will be competitive in prices.

Clark said he had also talked with representatives of Legacy and that he was warned by the state to not go with them. But Martin and Kemp both said private ownership has to at least be considered.

“We need to look at potential private ownership. We need to exhaust all options before the city takes ownership of the cemeteries,” Martin said.

Martin, Kemp, Settle and Good agreed to a special study session Dec. 16, at which representatives of Legacy will present to the board what they could do. Legacy owns Woodlawn Cemetery on State Line Road in Fort Smith, having acquired it earlier this year, Dingman said.