N.Y. Village Law § 15-1508: Abandonment of cemeteries

§ 15-1508 Abandonment of cemeteries. a. Petition for removal of

remains. The mayor of any village may submit a verified petition to a

judge of a court of record seeking an order directing the removal of the

remains of any deceased person or persons buried in a potter's field or

any neglected or abandoned cemetery owned by the village in which no

deceased person shall have been interred within twenty years, and

directing their reinterment in a properly kept cemetery in the same

county.

b. Contents of petition. The verified petition shall contain the

following:

(1) Name of petitioner and a statement that petitioner is the mayor of

the village in which the cemetery is located;

(2) Name of deceased person or persons whose remains are sought to be

removed, if known;

(3) Name and location of cemetery in which interred and from which

removal is asked to be made;

(4) Name and location of cemetery to which remains are desired to be

removed and reinterred; and

(5) Facts showing reasons for such removal.

c. Order to show cause. The judge to whom such a petition is presented

shall make an order to show cause, returnable before such judge at a

time and place within the county not less than twenty days from the date

of presentation, why the remains should not be removed and reinterred as

provided in the petition.

d. Publication. The order to show cause shall provide for its

publication in each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper, to be

designated in the order, which is published nearest to the cemetery from

which removal is to be made. Proof of publication shall be filed with

the court.

e. Hearing. Any relative of the deceased person or persons or the

officer of any cemetery in which the remains of the deceased person or

persons were originally interred may oppose the granting of such an

order.

f. Order. (1) If no objection is made, and upon the filing of proof of

publication of the order to show cause, the judge shall make an order

directing at village expense the removal of the remains of the deceased

person or persons to the cemetery designated in the petition in which

the remains are to be buried.

(2) If an objection is made, the judge shall make such order as the

justice and equity of the application shall require.

(3) The petition and order shall be filed in the office of the clerk

of the county in which the remains of the deceased were originally

interred, and a certified copy of the final order shall be served upon

the cemetery to which the remains are to be removed prior to any

removal.

g. Removal and resetting of headstone or monument. Any headstone or

monument which marks the grave of the deceased person or persons shall

be removed and reset at the grave in the cemetery in which the removal

is permitted to be made. Such headstone or monument need not be so

removed and reset where the order provides for the purchase or erection

of a new headstone or monument.

h. Expenses. The order shall provide the amount of expense of all

removals and reinterment and resetting of the headstone or monument,

including the expenses of proceedings under this section. All expenses

shall be paid by the village whose mayor made the petition.

i. Care of reinterred remains. The expense for annual care of the

grave in the cemetery to which the removal is made shall be annually

provided by the village whose mayor made the petition and shall be paid

annually to the cemetery to which the remains were reinterred.

Alternatively, the village may pay the cemetery to which the remains

were removed an amount sufficient to provide perpetual care.

j. Report. Upon completion of the removal, reinterment and resetting

of the headstone or monuments, the person or persons designated in the

order as having charge of the removals and reinterments shall file a

report in the office of the county clerk.

k. Use of lands. After remains have been removed and reinterred

pursuant to this section, the lands where originally interred may be

used for any village purposes and may be conveyed or disposed of in the

same manner as other village lands.