BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A small pioneer cemetery near Beatrice will be reopened and privately run under a new Nebraska law.

Beatrice radio station KWBE reports that the Gage County Board of Supervisors approved a special permit Wednesday to let a family reopen the Sparks Cemetery.

The cemetery sits on land about six miles west of Beatrice. It’s expected to be the first such cemetery reopened under a law that allows private associations to operate closed cemeteries that have been maintained by counties.

Gage County resident Dan Crawford worked with state Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland to pass the law. Crawford says he wanted to lay his late mother to rest in the small cemetery, but couldn’t do so until the law was changed.

Graves in the cemetery date back to 1824.