2023 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 or her 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
  one  of  the veterans' services 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 one of
  the veterans' services 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,  she  or  they
  served;  (2) the name and location of the cemetery in which he or she 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
  or  she 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 one of the veterans' services 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
  one  of  the  veterans' services 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.