9-451

9-451. Procedure for vacating cemeteries

A. When a cemetery or ground used as a cemetery within the corporate limits of a
city or town has been abandoned and ceases to be used for such purposes, or when in the
judgment of the governing body of the city or town, the cemetery or ground so used is
unfit or unsuited for cemetery purposes, or becomes obnoxious, or can be used for other
public purposes to better advantage, the governing body may by resolution direct that the
cemetery or ground used as a cemetery be vacated.

B. Upon the passage of an ordinance or resolution vacating a cemetery, public
notice thereof shall be published in the official newspaper of the city or town for at
least four consecutive weeks.

C. If, within six months from the date of the first publication of notice, the
remains of any person buried within the cemetery are claimed by a relative of the person
for reburial, the remains shall be delivered to the relative.

D. At the expiration of the six months period, the remains of persons buried in the
cemetery which can be identified or which have monuments or gravestones at the respective
graves and which have not been claimed by relatives shall be removed to some other
cemetery or suitable place, and all monuments and gravestones shall also be removed,
replaced and reset at the respective graves as before removal. In addition, each grave
shall be numbered in numerical order, the numbers to be carved on a suitable slab of
stone or hardwood and placed at the foot of the grave, and a list of the names of those
buried and the number of the grave in which the remains rest shall be recorded in the
office of the city or town clerk, the expense thereof to be paid by the city or town.

E. At the expiration of six months after notice, the governing body may order that
the remains of persons which have not been claimed and cannot be identified and have no
monuments or gravestones at the graves, be removed and buried as set forth in this
section, or be removed and cremated, or left in the vacated cemetery and the surface of
the ground leveled.

F. When a cemetery which is the property of a municipal corporation is vacated or
partially vacated, the cemetery shall be used as a public park.

G. A map or plat shall be recorded in the office of the city or town clerk showing
the exact location in the cemetery of the remains of persons remaining in the
cemetery. A monument shall be erected in some suitable location bearing the names, if
possible, of the persons whose remains are allowed to remain in the cemetery.