Fort Smith Board to discuss cemetery ownership, homeless transport penalties

Another discussion about ownership and maintenance of cemeteries in Fort Smith, and a discussion about penalties for anyone transporting homeless people to Fort Smith are the only posted items on Tuesday’s (July 14) study session of the Fort Smith Board of Directors.

The cemeteries are on the northside of Fort Smith. Roselawn/Holy Cross is off of North O Street and just west of Interstate 540. Forest Park is located off of Midland Boulevard (U.S. 64) and North 50th Street. Forest Park has at least 26,000 graves, Roselawn has 23,345 graves, and Holy Cross has 3,623 graves.

Marty Clark, president and CEO of Fort Smith-based BHC Insurance and volunteer Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. (FSCI) board president, first publicly discussed the issue with the board in July 2025. Clark and FSCI board member Ed Ralston have said the nonprofit worked in recent years to stabilize the funding and address funding shortfalls while also addressing needed maintenance and upkeep.

Part of the problem with the cemeteries making enough to stay open is that burial numbers are down, Clark said. In November 2025, there were only two burials, compared to 15 in November 2024, and 20 in November 2023. Clark at the time said more people are choosing cremation.

Clark and Ralston have argued that the cemeteries are historic because they are the final resting place of many people who helped build the city and region. Clark said the city should consider that it has a “civic obligation” to own and maintain the properties. Clark has estimated that the annual cost to the city at around $108,000, with fundraising efforts likely to reduce that amount.

Directors Neal Martin and Lee Kemp have pushed back against the city taking cemetery ownership or assuming maintenance support. They have called for research into private ownership or consider options other than outright ownership of the cemeteries. Directors Christina Catsavis, André Good, and Jarred Rego have supported the city taking some action to own or help maintain the cemeteries.

“We need to sober up and find a way to get it done,” Catsavis said in December 2025. “We need to look at what it says about us. That we are not willing to take care of our dead is shameful.”

“The Board last discussed this item in December, 2025 when a private cemetery management company expressed interest in acquiring and operating the properties,” Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman noted in a July 9 memo to the board. “While this would be a private transaction outside the scope of the city’s involvement, the Board heard a presentation from the potential interested party at a special study session on December 16, 2025 in order to facilitate discussion. Afterwards, it was relayed to the city that Fort Smith Cemeteries, Inc. did not have interest in selling to the private company and intended to continue the nonprofits ownership and operation of the cemeteries.”

HOMELESS TRANSPORT
Board members are also set to discuss “community speculation that unhoused individuals” are being transported to Fort Smith to access care services in the area, according to a memo from Dingman to the board.

Dingman’s memo advises that three cities – Fort Wayne, Ind., Joplin, Mo., and St. Joseph, Mo. – adopted ordinances addressing the issue of transporting homeless people into their respective cities.

“Each ordinance imposes penalties on persons or entities providing transportation for the relocation of transient individuals from other jurisdictions to their jurisdiction,” Dingman noted. “The penalties range from civil fines to criminal misdemeanors. To date, none of the jurisdictions have reported any enforcement actions under their adopted ordinance.”

Specifically, ordinances in the three cities prohibit the knowing relocation “of an unhoused/transient person into the city, directly or indirectly, including one-way transport and drop-off.” Exceptions include for booking into a jail, court hearings, medical treatment, verified housing or shelter placement, and social service hearings.

Link here for the board’s agenda.