2023 New York Laws › VIL - Village › Article 15 - Cemeteries › 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.