§ 7-4-106 — Archaeological human burial sites

Wyoming § 7-4-106

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 07: Criminal Procedure
• Ch. 4: COUNTY CORONERS
• Art. 1: IN GENERAL

Text

(a) The county coroner shall have jurisdiction over all
archaeological human burials discovered in the county on state
or private lands.
(b) When human remains are discovered:
(i) The person who discovers the remains shall cease
the activity that caused the discovery of the remains and
immediately notify law enforcement. If the remains are
discovered on private land and the person who discovers the
remains is not an agent of the landowner, the individual shall
also notify the landowner;
(ii) When law enforcement is notified that human
remains have been discovered within the limits of the county,
law enforcement shall notify the coroner who shall determine the
approximate age of the burial site. If the human remains
constitute an archaeological human burial:
(A) On private land, the coroner shall notify
the state archaeologist and the landowner;
(B) On state land, the coroner shall notify the
state archaeologist and the office of state lands and
investments. The office of state lands and investments shall
notify any leaseholder;
(C) The state archaeologist's investigation to
determine the forensic value and archaeological context shall
be:
(I) Commenced within two (2) business days
of the discovery to protect the integrity of the remains;
(II) Limited to the discovered human burial
site.
(c) When human remains are exhumed:
(i) An archaeological human burial shall only be
exhumed under the direction and supervision of the state
archaeologist in coordination with the county coroner, and
provided:
(A) The coroner shall notify the landowner of
exhumation; and
(B) If the state archaeologist determines that
the remains are Native American, the state archaeologist shall
notify the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes before
exhumation.
(ii) Absent extraordinary circumstances, exhumation
shall be completed not more than six (6) business days from the
date the coroner notifies the state archaeologist of the
archeological human burial discovery to protect the safety and
integrity of the remains.
(d) When human remains are reinterred:
(i) When the state archaeologist determines that an
archaeological human burial is Native American, after
archaeological human remains are exhumed and before reinterment
or repatriation, the state archaeologist and county coroner
shall:
(A) Notify and consult with culturally
affiliated Native American tribes in accordance with the
protocol developed pursuant to subsection (f) of this section;
and
(B) Expend reasonable effort to identify present
day descendants.
(ii) When the state archaeologist determines that an
archaeological human burial is not Native American, the state
archaeologist shall expend reasonable effort to identify present
day descendants and consult with them before reinterment;
(iii) If no descendants of the person whose remains
were exhumed are identifiable, remains may be reinterred on
state lands;
(iv) Subject to the notification of law enforcement,
the coroner and the state archaeologist and the procedures in
this section, nothing in this section precludes a landowner from
working with descendants or Native American tribes to reinter
human remains on private lands with the landowner's consent.
(e) Human remains shall be treated with respect, dignity
and with consideration of religious, spiritual and ethnic
evidence present at the burial site.
(f) The state archaeologist in cooperation with the state
historic preservation office and county coroners shall work with
culturally affiliated tribes including the Eastern Shoshone and
Northern Arapaho tribes to develop a protocol for consultation,
repatriation and reinterment or other disposition of Native
American human remains.
(g) For purposes of this section, "archaeological human
burial" includes human remains and funerary objects that, as
part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, are reasonably
believed to have been placed with individual human remains at
the time of death or later but does not include remains found in
known or marked graves, found in established cemeteries or that
demonstrate present medicolegal significance.
(h) A person who knowingly violates this section is guilty
of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than
six (6) months, a fine of not more than five thousand dollars
($5,000.00), or both.