N.Y. Village Law § 15-1508 Abandonment of Cemeteries

• Library: New York Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through 2023 NY Law Chapter 777
• Year: 2023
• Citation: N.Y. Village Law § 15-1508

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.