Section 517.21. Abandonment or discontinuance of cemetery - removal of bodies and stones

When a public or private cemetery has been abandoned, or when the board of township trustees or the trustees or directors of a cemetery association are of the opinion that the further use for burial purposes of a cemetery will be detrimental to the public welfare or health, and a cemetery in the near vicinity is open for public use, the board, trustees, or directors may order that the abandoned cemetery or the cemetery whose further use for burial purposes is believed to be detrimental to the public welfare or health be discontinued and provide for the removal of all remains buried in that cemetery, for the removal of all stones and monuments marking the graves of that cemetery, for the reinterment of the remains, and for the re-erection of those stones and monuments in suitable public ground in the near vicinity, all of which shall be paid for from the township treasury.

Before providing for any removal described in this section, the board, trustees, or directors shall first give notice to the family, friends, or next of kin of the decedent involved, if known, of the discontinuance order and of the time within which, not less than thirty days, the removal must be made. The notice shall state that it is desired that the removal be made by the family, friends, or next of kin of the decedent. If, at the expiration of the thirty-day period, the removals have not been made, the board, trustees, or directors may make the removals as provided by this section.

Effective Date: 11-24-1995