General Information

Physical Address: 10567 Main Street Cemetery

Hours: 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, Monday – Friday

Contact Person:  Jaimie Lindley, Cemetery Attendant E-mail: Jaimie.lindley@fairfaxva.gov or telephone:  703-385-7997  

Seasonal holiday decorations & flowers will be removed by cemetery staff from all graves beginning on Monday, January 22, 2024.  Please retrieve all seasonal holiday decorations or objects with sentimental value prior to January 21, 2023.  

Placement of decorative objects and floral decorations are permitted again on Friday, January 26, 2024.  Please call Jaimie Lindley at 703-385-7997 or e-mail her at Jaimie.lindley@fairfaxva.gov if you have questions.  

Fee and Charges

The fees and charges that apply to grave site purchase, interment and perpetual care will be established by City Council and published in the City’s Schedule of Rates and Levies.  Also, grave opening and disinterment will be the same as interment.

Purchase of grave sites which were made prior to April 20, 1962 did not include perpetual care.  In order to provide for perpetual care and to avoid the necessity of making annual maintenance payments, lot owners shall make a one-time payment.  This charge must be made prior to the use or transfer of a grave or grave site.  Funds for providing perpetual care of grave sites currently being sold are collected at the time of the sale.

Cemetery sites and perpetual care charges are due in full at the time of sale.  Open/close fees are separate and distinct from site and perpetual care fees.  Open/close fees may be prepaid or paid for when needed.  If open/close fees are not prepaid, purchaser will be charged, at time of need, the amount of the fees in effect at that future date.  (NOTE: City fees are adjusted on an annual basis and fees charged in the future may be significantly higher than those in effect when plot purchases are made.)  If open/close fees are not prepaid, fees must be paid PRIOR to grave site opening.  There are no exceptions to this policy.  Any applicable overtime fees will be charged at the current rate and cannot be prepaid.

Burial fee includes one (1) hour beginning at the time scheduled or length of service plus an additional sixty minutes. Any additional time thereafter will incur a minimum $100 charge for 30-minute increments. 

City Residents

 After Hours Fees:

Non-City Residents*

Note:  Non-city residents may purchase sites for their personal use only after receiving City Council approval.  See Policy Regulation #3 for a complete explanation.

After Hours Fees:

Payment Options for Fees and Charges

All money orders and checks must be made payable to:

Treasurer, City of Fairfax
City Hall
10455 Armstrong Street
Fairfax, VA 22030-3630
Attn: City of Fairfax Cemetery

All credit or debit card payments are processed at the initiation of the purchaser on-line or at the Treasurer’s Office at City Hall.  A separate 2.5% administrative fee will be processed

City Cemetery Supervisor: (703)-385-7997
Right of Way Supervisor: (703) -385-7838

General Regulations

1. Funeral Arrangements

Funeral arrangements will be handled by the funeral home and the Cemetery Supervisor.  Date and time of interment shall be scheduled with the Cemetery Supervisor prior to being finalized with the family. Cemetery personnel require 3 business days’ notice prior to interments. The city assumes no responsibility for errors resulting from any instructions provided by any lot/site owners or funeral homes except when such instructions are provided in writing.

The regular hours for interments will be between 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., all days of the week. Any interment arriving at or after 2:00 p.m., or on Saturday & holidays will be subject to overtime charges beyond the standard interment fees.  The Right of Way Supervisor and the Cemetery Attendant have the authority to adjust the graveside service times seasonally to ensure all gravesites are back-filled before dark.

No interments will be permitted on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, after 12:00 noon on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day. The holiday overtime fee will apply to all observed City of Fairfax holidays not specified on the interment list above.

Burial fee includes one (1) hour beginning at the time scheduled or length of service plus an additional sixty minutes. Any additional time thereafter will incur a minimum $100 charge for 30-minute increments.

Questions or other cemetery business should be conducted between the hours of 8:00 AM and 12:00PM, Monday through Friday only.

2. In-Ground Grave Site Uses

• All in-ground interments of adults must be made in steel or concrete vaults with a plain concrete vault being the minimum acceptable. This regulation will be waived for welfare and charity cases or in the case of deceased persons whose religious beliefs do not permit the same.
• No single in-ground grave shall be used for more than eight urn burials.
• In-ground cremation sites shall be used for no more than two urn burials.
• All new gravestones, markers, monuments and benches must have a foundation.  Marker and monument foundations shall be made by monument companies, not by city/cemetery personnel. Gravestones, markers, monuments and benches shall be either at the head or the foot of the grave site.  Any bench in existence as of the effective date of this regulation are “grandfathered” and will be allowed to remain.  The Cemetery Supervisor must be notified prior to setting of gravestones, markers, monuments and benches.  
• All corner markers must be set at ground level.
• Fences, railings, wooden markers and mounds are not permitted.
• The Operations Director may limit or decline use of a burial site that will cause damage to any trees. This decision by the Operations Director may be appealed to the Director of Public Works.
• In the event more than one site is purchased, the owner of the site must submit to the cemetery the name and allocation of each person to be buried in his sites.
• Owners who want to exchange their in-ground grave for another location will be credited with the original purchase price minus perpetual care toward the purchase of the new in-ground grave or columbarium niche.
  

3.  Columbarium Niche Uses

• Niches can accommodate up to two urns.
• Niche interiors are approximately 12” wide, 12” high, and 14” deep.  Depending on the first urn size a second urn may not fit in the niche with the first urn. In this case another niche will have to be purchased.
• Niche price does not include panel engraving.  Separate arrangements will have to be made for the deceased’s panel inscription. The Cemetery will provide inscription specifications and monument company contact information.
  

4. Grave Decorations

• All planting of shrubs, bushes, etc. is subject to the approval of the Operations Director.  Trees are not to be planted. An adverse determination by the Operations Director may be appealed to the Director of Public Works. Any permanent planting in existence as of the effective date of this regulation are “grandfathered” and will be allowed to remain.  They will, however, be properly trimmed.
• Cut flowers in containers other than glass or breakable containers are permitted throughout the year. They will be removed at the direction of the Cemetery Supervisor after one week or when they become unsightly, whichever is later.  Glass and breakable containers are not permitted and shall be removed by cemetery personnel.
• Artificial flowers, metal emblems, flags or baskets are permitted on Easter, Mother’s/Father’s Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Christmas—ONE per grave and may remain for two weeks.  
• Winter wreaths, blankets, etc. shall be permitted only ONE per grave during the non-mowing months of November 1 through January 31, and may be removed without notice at the Cemetery Supervisor’s discretion.  All flowers, real or artificial, will be removed February 1 in order to perform spring maintenance. Families are responsible for removing items they wish to keep prior to February 1.
• The City of Fairfax is not responsible for damage to gravestones, markers, monuments, benches, vases and foundations.
  

1. The City Manager will grant free burial to destitute city residents after making certain there are no available funds for his/her burial.
2. The city will establish an area for cremains and will set sites for this purpose at the size of three (3) feet by three (3) feet.
3. Cemetery sites will be sold only to city residents, former city residents, and non-residents who are purchasing said sites for the benefit and use of recently deceased city residents.  Sales shall be limited to four sites per person.  Non-city residents may purchase sites after receiving City Council approval.  Full-time city employees with ten (10) years of uninterrupted service may purchase sites at non-resident rates, without City Council action.  Non-resident employees who die or are killed on duty may be interred at the city cemetery without City Council approval.
4. Lot/site owners may not sell sites except to current or former city residents or eligible city employees without first obtaining permission from the City Council.  The city will aid sellers at the discretion of the city’s designated representative.  In the event that no eligible or approved purchaser is found, the owner may, or continue to, retain interest in the lot or site(s), or the city may reimburse the owner at the rate not to exceed $500.00 per site, not including perpetual care.
5. The city reserves the right to correct any errors regarding interment, disinterment, removal or lot/site records and or correspondence as the city deems appropriate.
6. The city manager reserves the right to modify or grant exceptions to city cemetery regulations.
7. The city of Fairfax shall take all reasonable measures based on Cemetery maps/files and other references to ensure the accurate location for each plot.  The location of each plot will only be guaranteed accurate within 6 inches of the lot limits, as shown on the cemetery maps.  The City shall only be liable for mistakes caused by blatant misinterpretations of the site map that result in the relocation of previous interments.  The City also reserves the right to relocate interments in order to correct inaccurate information at City expense.  The cost to make changes such as depth, realignment or location of any plot shall be the responsibility of the owner of the plot or their survivor(s).