NY Town L § 295 (2021)
2021 New York Laws TWN - Town Article 17 - Cemeteries 295 - Removal of Remains of Deceased Members of Armed Forces.

§  295. Removal of remains of deceased members of armed forces. Upon a   verified petition presented to a judge of a court of record by any armed   forces' organization in any town or city in this state by a majority  of   its  officers,  or  a  majority of any memorial committee in any town or   city where there are two or more veteran armed forces' organizations, or   in  towns  or  cities  where  there  are  no   veteran   armed   forces'   organizations,  upon  the petition of five or more veterans of the armed   forces, 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 fourteen or more than twenty days  from  the   date  of  presentation of said petition, why the remains of any deceased   members of the  armed  forces  buried  in  potter's  field,  or  in  any   neglected  or  abandoned  cemeteries,  should  not  be  removed  to  and   reinterred in a properly kept incorporated cemetery in the same town  or   city  or  in a town adjoining the town or city in which the remains of a   deceased member of the armed forces are buried, and to fix the amount of   the 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 sought to be made, once  in  each  week  for  two  successive   weeks.  The verified petition presented to the judge shall show that the   petitioners are a majority of the officers of  a  veteran  armed  forces   organization,  or  a majority of a memorial committee in towns or cities   where two or more veteran armed forces organizations exist, or that  the   petitioners  are  honorably  discharged  veterans of the armed forces in   towns or cities where no veteran armed forces  organization  exists,  or   that  the petitioners have a qualifying condition, as defined in section   three hundred fifty of the executive law, and received a discharge other   than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service and are in  towns  or   cities  where  no  veteran armed forces organizations exist, or that the   petitioners are discharged LGBT veterans, as defined  in  section  three   hundred  fifty of the executive law, and received a discharge other than   bad conduct or dishonorable from such  service  and  are  in  towns  and   cities  where  no  veteran armed forces organizations exist, and (1) the   name of the deceased member  or  members  of  the  armed  forces,  whose   remains  are  sought to be removed, and if known the unit in which he or   they served; (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  member  or  members  of  the  armed  forces  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  county  in   which  the  town  or city is situated from which the removal is made and   such expenses shall be a county charge  and  audited  by  the  board  of   supervisors  of  the  county and paid in the same manner as other county   charges. On and after the removal and reinterment of the remains of  the   deceased  member  or  members  of  the armed forces in the armed forces'   plot, the expenses for annual care of the grave  in  the  armed  forces'   burial  plot  to which the removal is made shall be annually provided by   the town or city in which the remains were  originally  buried,  at  the    rate  of  not  to  exceed  twenty  dollars  per grave, and shall be paid   annually to the incorporated cemetery association to which  the  remains   of  each  deceased  member  of  the  armed  forces  may  be  removed and   reinterred.  The petition and order shall be filed in the county clerk's   office of the county in which the remains of the deceased member of  the   armed  forces  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 member or members of   the armed forces, or the officer of any cemetery  association  in  which   the  remains  of the deceased member or members of the armed forces were   originally interred, or the authorities  of  the  county  in  which  the   member or members of the armed forces were originally buried, 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 member of the armed forces  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. The words "member of the armed   forces" shall be construed to mean a member  of  the  armed  forces  who   served  in  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  and who (5) was   honorably  discharged  from  such  service,  or  (6)  has  a  qualifying   condition,  as  defined  in section three hundred fifty of the executive   law, and has received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable   from such service, or (7) is a discharged LGBT veteran,  as  defined  in   section  three  hundred  fifty  of the executive law, and has received a   discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service,  and   the  words "armed forces plot" shall be construed to mean a plot of land   in any incorporated cemetery set apart to be exclusively used as a place   for interring the remains of deceased veterans of the  armed  forces  of   the United States.