296. Abandonment of cemeteries. Upon a verified petition presented to a judge of a court of record by any supervisor of any town in this state, the judge to whom said verified petition is presented shall make an order to show cause, returnable before him at a time and place within the county in not less than twenty days from the date of presentation of said petition, why the remains of any deceased person buried in potter's field, or in any neglected or abandoned cemeteries in which no deceased person shall have been interred within twenty years, should not be removed to and reinterred in a properly kept incorporated cemetery in the same town or in a town or city adjoining the town in which the remains of each deceased person or persons are buried, and to fix the amount of expenses for such removal and reinterment, and the order to show cause shall provide for its publication in a newspaper, to be designated in the order, which is published nearest to the cemetery from which the removal is to be made, once in each week for two successive weeks. The verified petition presented to the judge shall show that the petitioner is a supervisor of the town in which said cemetery is located and (1) the name of the deceased person or persons whose remains are sought to be removed, if known; (2) the name and location of the cemetery in which he is interred and from which removal is asked to be made; (3) the name and location of the incorporated cemetery to which the remains are desired to be removed and reinterred; (4) the facts showing the reasons for such removal. Upon the return day of the order to show cause and at the time and place fixed in said order, upon filing proof of publication of the order to show cause with the judge, if no objection is made thereto, he shall make an order directing the removal of the remains of said deceased person or persons to the cemetery designated in the petition within the town or city or within a town adjoining the town or city in which the remains are then buried and shall specify in the order the amount of the expenses of such removal, which expenses of removal and reinterment, including the expense of the proceeding under this section, shall be a charge upon the town in which the cemetery is situated from which the removal is made and such expenses shall be a town charge and audited by the town board and paid in the same manner as other town charges. On and after the removal and reinterment of the remains of any deceased person or persons, the expenses for annual care of the grave in the cemetery to which the removal is made shall be annually provided by the town in which the remains were originally buried at a rate not to exceed twenty dollars per grave, and shall be paid annually to the incorporated cemetery association to which the remains of each deceased person may be removed or reinterred. Any town owning a lot or lots in a cemetery maintained by an incorporated cemetery association in which the remains of deceased persons have been or may be buried pursuant to this section, however, may pay such association an amount sufficient to provide perpetual care therefor. The petition and order shall be filed in the county clerk's office of the county in which the remains of the deceased person were originally interred, and the service of a certified copy of the final order upon the cemetery association shall be made prior to any removal. Any relative of the deceased person or the officer of any cemetery association in which the remains of the deceased person were originally interred may oppose the granting of said order and the judge shall summarily hear the statement of the parties and make such order as the justice and equity of the application shall require. Any headstone or monument which marks the grave of the deceased person shall be removed and reset at the grave in the cemetery in which the removal is permitted to be made and in each case the final order shall provide the amount of the expenses of such removals and reinterment and resetting of the headstone or monument, including the expenses of the proceedings under this section; except that where provision is otherwise made for the purchase or erection of a new headstone, monument or marker at the grave in the cemetery to which such removal is permitted, such old headstone or monument need not be so removed and reset, in which case such final order shall not provide for the expense of resetting. The order shall designate the person or persons having charge of the removals and reinterments. Upon completion of the removal, reinterment and resetting of the headstones or monuments, the person or persons having charge of the same shall make a verified report of the removal, reinterment and resetting of the headstone or monument and file the report in the clerk's office of the proper county.
After said bodies shall have been removed and reinterred in the manner prescribed by said order, said lands in which such deceased persons were originally interred shall be available for and subject to such uses for town purposes as the town board of such town may determine and may be conveyed or otherwise disposed of in the same manner as other town lands.
Last modified: February 3, 2019