Penal Law § 145.23

Cemetery desecration in the first degree · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 145.23 Cemetery desecration in the first degree.

A person is guilty of cemetery desecration in the first degree when with intent to damage property of another person, and having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he has such right, he:

(a) damages any real or personal property maintained as a cemetery plot, grave, burial place or other place of interment of human remains in an amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars; or

(b) with intent to steal personal property, he steals personal property, the value of which exceeds two hundred fifty dollars, which is located at a cemetery plot, grave, burial place or other place of interment of human remains and which property is owned by the person or organization which maintains or owns such place or the estate, next-of-kin or representatives of the deceased person interred there; or

(c) commits the crime of cemetery desecration in the second degree as defined in section 145.22 of this article and has been previously convicted of the crime of cemetery desecration in the second degree within the preceding five years.

Cemetery desecration in the first degree is a class E felony.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/145.23

In plain English

A person commits first-degree cemetery desecration when, intending to damage another's property and without a right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe there is one, he or she:

(a) damages cemetery plot, grave, burial, or interment property by more than $250;
(b) intending to steal, steals personal property worth more than $250 located at such a place and owned by the person or organization that maintains or owns it, or by the deceased's estate, next of kin, or representatives; or
(c) commits second-degree cemetery desecration (section 145.22) after a conviction for that crime within the preceding 5 years. ★

It is a class E felony.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.