§ 15-1508 — Abandonment of cemeteries

§ 15-1508 Abandonment of cemeteries. a. Petition for removal of\nremains. The mayor of any village may submit a verified petition to a\njudge of a court of record seeking an order directing the removal of the\nremains of any deceased person or persons buried in a potter's field or\nany neglected or abandoned cemetery owned by the village in which no\ndeceased person shall have been interred within twenty years, and\ndirecting their reinterment in a properly kept cemetery in the same\ncounty.\n b. Contents of petition. The verified petition shall contain the\nfollowing:\n (1) Name of petitioner and a statement that petitioner is the mayor of\nthe village in which the cemetery is located;\n (2) Name of deceased person or persons whose remains are sought to be\nremoved, if known;\n (3) Name and location of cemetery in which interred and from which\nremoval is asked to be made;\n (4) Name and location of cemetery to which remains are desired to be\nremoved and reinterred; and\n (5) Facts showing reasons for such removal.\n c. Order to show cause. The judge to whom such a petition is presented\nshall make an order to show cause, returnable before such judge at a\ntime and place within the county not less than twenty days from the date\nof presentation, why the remains should not be removed and reinterred as\nprovided in the petition.\n d. Publication. The order to show cause shall provide for its\npublication in each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper, to be\ndesignated in the order, which is published nearest to the cemetery from\nwhich removal is to be made. Proof of publication shall be filed with\nthe court.\n e. Hearing. Any relative of the deceased person or persons or the\nofficer of any cemetery in which the remains of the deceased person or\npersons were originally interred may oppose the granting of such an\norder.\n f. Order. (1) If no objection is made, and upon the filing of proof of\npublication of the order to show cause, the judge shall make an order\ndirecting at village expense the removal of the remains of the deceased\nperson or persons to the cemetery designated in the petition in which\nthe remains are to be buried.\n (2) If an objection is made, the judge shall make such order as the\njustice and equity of the application shall require.\n (3) The petition and order shall be filed in the office of the clerk\nof the county in which the remains of the deceased were originally\ninterred, and a certified copy of the final order shall be served upon\nthe cemetery to which the remains are to be removed prior to any\nremoval.\n g. Removal and resetting of headstone or monument. Any headstone or\nmonument which marks the grave of the deceased person or persons shall\nbe removed and reset at the grave in the cemetery in which the removal\nis permitted to be made. Such headstone or monument need not be so\nremoved and reset where the order provides for the purchase or erection\nof a new headstone or monument.\n h. Expenses. The order shall provide the amount of expense of all\nremovals and reinterment and resetting of the headstone or monument,\nincluding the expenses of proceedings under this section. All expenses\nshall be paid by the village whose mayor made the petition.\n i. Care of reinterred remains. The expense for annual care of the\ngrave in the cemetery to which the removal is made shall be annually\nprovided by the village whose mayor made the petition and shall be paid\nannually to the cemetery to which the remains were reinterred.\nAlternatively, the village may pay the cemetery to which the remains\nwere removed an amount sufficient to provide perpetual care.\n j. Report. Upon completion of the removal, reinterment and resetting\nof the headstone or monuments, the person or persons designated in the\norder as having charge of the removals and reinterments shall file a\nreport in the office of the county clerk.\n k. Use of lands. After remains have been removed and reinterred\npursuant to this section, the lands where originally interred may be\nused for any village purposes and may be conveyed or disposed of in the\nsame manner as other village lands.\n