New nonprofit to take over Resthaven Cemetery amid upkeep complaints
Families said weeds and broken headstones had become hard to ignore at Resthaven, pushing Perry County toward a nonprofit takeover.
Families who visited Resthaven Cemetery in Perry County said the condition of the burial ground had become impossible to overlook, with overgrown weeds and damaged headstones drawing complaints that now have pushed the site toward new stewardship.
The problem surfaced publicly when the Perry County Attorney’s Office held a community meeting earlier in May at the Perry County Courthouse. There, families brought their concerns directly to state officials, turning what had been a private frustration into a broader question of accountability for a place where local families expect gravesites to be cared for with dignity.
The change now taking shape is a nonprofit structure meant to take over stewardship of the cemetery and provide more consistent maintenance. That matters in Perry County, where burial grounds carry family memory, local history and regular visits from relatives who notice quickly when a cemetery is not being kept up. The shift also suggests officials and families are looking for a more durable fix than repeated complaints after the fact.
State records show Resthaven Cemetery, L.L.C. remains an active Kentucky business entity in good standing. The company was formed June 14, 2022, carries organization number 1214497, and lists its principal office at 1880 Defeated Creek Road in Redfox. Ricky Sumner is listed as the registered agent, and the last annual report was filed July 2, 2025. Those records help explain why the response appears to be a stewardship change rather than an immediate county takeover.
Kentucky law requires cemetery owners, except in private family cemeteries, to keep burial grounds free of weeds, accumulated debris, displaced tombstones and other signs of gross neglect. The Kentucky Historical Society says some cemeteries need major rehabilitation while others need only light maintenance, and its Adopt-A-Cemetery Program connects individuals and organizations with places in need of care.
A 1981 Kentucky Attorney General opinion also addressed whether a nonprofit created to preserve, maintain, promote and beautify an existing cemetery would be exempt from cemetery law, showing that nonprofit stewardship is not a new idea in the commonwealth. For Perry County families with loved ones buried at Resthaven, the test now is whether the new arrangement can deliver reliable upkeep before neglect becomes an even deeper wound.
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