State continues to address Nancy Hart Memorial Park

The State of Georgia is still considering placing Nancy Hart Memorial Park (NHMP) on Royston Highway in its receivership, continuing a process covered by The Sun throughout this year.

In March, The Sun reported about numerous complaints made by Hart County residents about the concerning condition of the cemetery due to issues including low staffing, vandalism, and missing grave markers. At that time, the Secretary of State’s office’s securities division had begun investigating the cemeteries owned by Russell Young (in Hart County as well as Barrow, Franklin, and Jackson Counties), who had asserted that the cemetery’s conditions are due to a shortage in staffing.

By summer, the question remained of whether or not criminal charges would be pressed for negligence of the cemetery; Representative Alan Powell said in June that investigators were running an audit on the trust associated with the cemeteries, and would then look into NHMP’s overall conditions.

Also in June, Senator Rick Williams–whose family has owned and run two Georgia cemeteries since 1983–stated that the primary roadblock to the state taking over the cemetery was that the Georgia Secretary of State’s office did not have enough funds. He also said then that “there should be some civil and criminal penalties against [the cemetery owners] for negligence in the operation of those cemeteries.”

This week, Representative Alan Powell told The Sun that he met with the trust division at the Georgia Secretary of State’s cemeteries division about this ongoing issue. He also shared that, in accordance with due process, the trust division is having meetings with the owners of the cemetery.

Rep. Powell shared that a concerned constituent once called him, alarmed about the brickwork coming off the mausoleum.

“It’s never been kept up,” Powell said. “I’ve had calls from people about graves [too], that graves haven’t been fully filled up, so there’s a sunk spot over the grave.”

The state of the cemetery within the past few days showed not only grave markers in disrepair, but also headstones lying in dirt behind a mausoleum, along with other signs of negligence.

Rep. Powell also acknowledged how the cemetery’s “out-of-town management” makes improving conditions more difficult.

The Sun contacted District 24 Senator Lee Anderson for comment, but did not hear anything in response, and reached Senator Rick Williams but was not able to obtain a statement before press time. Similarly, the Georgia Secretary of State’s communications office declined to comment, as the investigation is still ongoing.