Was SLO County cemetery neglected? Grand jury probe calls out management
The Santa Margarita Cemetery District has been a resting place for local residents since 1909 — but in recent years, it has fallen into a state of disarray, according to a newly released grand jury investigation.
The 7.9 acre cemetery, located just off of Highway 58, blends into its rural surroundings of tall, dried grass and oak trees. Graves of various sizes are scattered throughout the property — some marked by large and ornate concrete headstones, others identified only by small headstones buried among weeds.
Over the past year, a San Luis Obispo County grand jury investigated a complaint made against the cemetery and found its allegations of a lack of transparency, neglected grounds and improper signage were accurate.
“The Grand Jury toured a different, nearby cemetery and saw that it was well-groomed, well-mapped and consistently maintained,” the grand jury wrote in its report. “The SMC is over a century old, and its rural setting was originally part of a ranch; however, that does not mean the grounds do not need to be organized.”
The jury’s findings come at a potentially pivotal time for the district as it eyes expansion after a 2023 acquisition of a parcel of land adjacent to its existing site.
The Santa Margarita Cemetery District did not respond to repeated Tribune requests for comment via the phone number and email listed on their website.
Complaint alleges mismanagement, disrepair at SLO County cemetery
The citizen complaint was submitted on Nov. 19, 2024, prompting the 2025-26 grand jury to launch an investigation.
One focus of the complaint was the Cemetery District’s lack of transparency: The anonymous complainant identified an absence of any contact information or website and stated that board meetings and minutes were not regularly posted.
The complaint also alleged that the cemetery grounds were not well-maintained and did not have proper signage for sections and rows.
Additionally, the complaint suggested that the familial relationship of the Cemetery District’s paid employees should be explored. The grand jury report stated that the jury “did not have sufficient information” to investigate this point, however.
What did grand jury find during cemetery investigation?
To investigate the complaint’s allegations, the grand jury visited the cemetery on Sept. 23, 2025.
During the visit, grand jury members interviewed vested individuals, reviewed legal documents and examined board meeting minutes.
Through their investigation, the grand jury found that the cemetery was not in compliance with the Brown Act, a state law that mandates transparency of local public agencies.
The Brown Act requires public postings of board agendas no less than 72 hours in advance.
The grand jury also found that the grounds of the cemetery were poorly maintained.
The report stated that the landscape was not hydrated, contained numerous vermin holes and appeared “disorderly.”
Several of the vermin holes on grave sites were very large, and the edges of some sites appeared to be eroding due to the holes. Some headstones were partially obscured by sand, dirt and weeds.
Even more pressing, these issues come at a time when the district is preparing to expand the cemetery’s borders.
The district acquired 3.5 acres of land for cemetery improvement and expansion through a 2023 donation, according to the grand jury report.
The grand jury advised that if the district plans to develop the land, it must make a written expansion plan that includes details about expanding water and electrical services, identifying individual plots in the new section and implementing a vermin control plan.
In total, the grand jury identified five main issues with the Cemetery District: the absence of a plan for improvement and expansion, the absence of an organizational chart with duties and responsibilities, violations of the Brown Act, an absence of proper signage and the absence of a website.
By the time of the grand jury report’s publication, two of the issues — the violation of the Brown Act and the absence of a website — had already been addressed.
The district launched a website in February 2026 that includes meeting notices, agendas and minutes and contact information.
The grand jury recommended that the website be expanded to include trustees’ contact information, hours of operation, instructions on how to find a grave site, instructions to schedule a burial, notices of interments and digitized paper files.
The grand jury additionally provided recommendations for the three remaining issues: the creation of a written improvement plan for cemetery grounds, an organizational chart and a publicly available map with grave site information and corresponding physical markers at the cemetery.
The grand jury recommended that all actions recommended in its report be taken by Dec. 1. The recommendations from the civil grand jury are advisory only, but by law the Cemetery District must respond to the report.
