2006 New York Code - Cemetery Duties.

 
  § 1510. Cemetery duties.
    (a)  Posting  of  rules,  regulations,  charges and prices. The rules,
  regulations, charges, and prices of lots, plots or parts  thereof  shall
  be suitably printed and shall be conspicuously posted by the corporation
  in  each  of its offices. For each day in which the corporation fails to
  post the rules, regulations, charges and prices the corporation shall be
  subject to a penalty of twenty-five dollars which may be recovered in  a
  civil  action  by  the  cemetery board. The cemetery board may waive the
  payment of the penalty or any part thereof.
    (b) Surveys and maps of cemetery. (1) Every cemetery corporation, from
  time to time, as land  in  its  cemetery  may  be  required  for  burial
  purposes, shall survey and subdivide such lands and make and file in the
  office  of  the  corporation  a  map thereof, open to public inspection,
  delineating the lots or plots, avenues,  paths,  alleys  and  walks  and
  their  respective  designations;  a  true  copy  thereof  shall upon its
  written request, be filed with the  cemetery  board.  Any  unsold  lots,
  plots  or  parts thereof, in which there are no remains, by order of the
  directors, may be resurveyed and altered in shape or size, and  properly
  designated  on  such  map.  (2) Every cemetery corporation shall provide
  reasonable access to every lot, plot and grave. This provision shall not
  be applicable where on September first, nineteen hundred forty-nine such
  access cannot be provided without the disinterment of a body or  bodies.
  A  cemetery  corporation shall not permit or allow a body to be interred
  hereafter in a path, alley, avenue or walk shown on the cemetery maps or
  actually in existence. Nothing herein contained, however, shall  prevent
  a  cemetery corporation in special cases from enlarging a lot by selling
  to the owner thereof the access space next to such lot,  and  permitting
  interments  therein,  provided  reasonable  access  to  such  lot and to
  adjoining lots is not thereby eliminated, and provided the  approval  of
  the cemetery board shall have first been obtained.
    (c)  Record  of burials. A record shall be kept of every burial in the
  cemetery of a cemetery corporation, showing  the  date  of  burial,  the
  name,  age  and  place  of  birth  of  the  person  buried,  when  these
  particulars can be conveniently obtained, and the  lot,  plot,  or  part
  thereof,  in  which  such  burial  was made. A copy of such record, duly
  certified by the secretary of such corporation, shall  be  furnished  on
  demand and payment of such fees therefor as are allowed the county clerk
  for certified copies of records.
    (d)  When  burial  not  to  be  refused. No cemetery corporation shall
  refuse or deny the right of burial and the privileges incidental thereto
  in any lot, plot or part thereof to those otherwise lawfully entitled to
  be buried  therein,  for  any  reason  except  for  the  non-payment  of
  interment  charges  and  the  purchase  price  of  the lot, plot or part
  thereof, in accordance with the terms of the  contract  of  purchase  or
  except as provided in subdivision (f) of section fifteen hundred nine of
  this article.
    (e) Removals. A body interred in a lot in a cemetery owned or operated
  by  a  corporation incorporated by or under a general or special law may
  be removed therefrom, with the  consent  of  the  corporation,  and  the
  written  consent  of  the  owners of the lot, and of the surviving wife,
  husband, children, if of full age, and parents of the deceased.  If  the
  consent  of  any  such person or of the corporation can not be obtained,
  permission by the county court of the county, or by the supreme court in
  the district, where the  cemetery  is  situated,  shall  be  sufficient.
  Notice  of application for such permission must be given, at least eight
  days prior thereto, personally, or, at least sixteen days prior thereto,
  by mail, to the corporation or to the persons  not  consenting,  and  to
  every  other  person  or  corporation  on  whom service of notice may be
  required by the court.
    (f)  Expenses  of improving vacant lot. Whenever a person having a lot
  in a cemetery shall vacate the same by  a  removal  of  all  the  bodies
  therefrom,  and  leave such lot in an unsightly condition for one month,
  the corporation may grade, cut, fill or  otherwise  change  the  surface
  thereof,  without  reducing  the  area  of  the  lot.  The  expense, not
  exceeding ten dollars, shall be chargeable to the lot. If the owners  of
  such  lot, within six months after such expense has been incurred, shall
  not repay such expense, the corporation  may  sell  the  lot  at  public
  auction  upon  the cemetery grounds, previous notice of such sale having
  been posted at the main entrance of the  cemetery,  and  mailed  to  the
  owners of such lot at their last-known post office address, at least ten
  days  prior  to  the  day of sale, and shall pay the surplus, if any, on
  demand to the owners of such lot.
    (g) Removal or correction of dangerous conditions  in  cemetery  lots.
  Any  plant  life,  fencing  or  embellishment  or structure other than a
  mausoleum, monument or mound, in a  lot,  plot  or  part  thereof  which
  becomes  so  worn,  neglected, broken or deteriorated that its continued
  existence is a danger to persons or property within the cemetery grounds
  may be removed, repaired or corrected by the cemetery corporation at its
  own cost and expense, provided it first gives not less than fifteen days
  notice by registered or certified mail to the last known  owner  at  his
  last  known  address  to repair or remove such object and the said owner
  shall fail to repair or remove the object within the  time  provided  in
  said  notice.  In the event of such removal, correction or repair by the
  cemetery corporation it shall, within twenty days thereafter, notify the
  lot owner, by registered or certified mail addressed to him at his  last
  known  address, of the action taken by the cemetery corporation. Nothing
  herein contained shall be construed to affect, supersede or  impair  any
  contract,  rule  or  regulation  duly approved by the cemetery board, or
  right or obligation  of  the  cemetery  corporation,  nor  shall  it  be
  construed  as placing any legal duty or obligation to exercise any right
  authorized by this subdivision.
    (h) Repair or notice as to non-dangerous damage or defacement.  Except
  as  otherwise  provided  by  rule  or  regulation  of the cemetery board
  pursuant to subparagraph two-a  of  paragraph  (c)  of  section  fifteen
  hundred  four  of this article, in the event a lot, plot or part thereof
  is substantially damaged or defaced which does not present  a  dangerous
  condition  to persons or property, or in the event a mausoleum, monument
  or mound in a lot, plot or part  thereof  is  substantially  damaged  or
  defaced,  and  the  correction  of  such condition is not subject to the
  provisions of paragraph (g) of this section or section  fifteen  hundred
  ten-a  of  this  article, the cemetery corporation within thirty days of
  the discovery of this condition may at its own cost and  expense  repair
  the  damage  or  defacement,  or  if  it  determines  not  to do so, the
  corporation shall within such thirty day period notify the owner, his or
  her distributee or the person filing an affidavit with such  corporation
  pursuant  to  the provisions of paragraph (e) of section fifteen hundred
  twelve of this article of such condition at the  last  address  of  such
  owner,  distributee  or person appearing on the books and records of the
  corporation. The notice  shall  be  sent  by  first  class  mail  and  a
  certificate of mailing shall be obtained. Nothing herein contained shall
  be construed as establishing any right of damages not otherwise provided
  by  law, rule or contract in any person against the cemetery corporation
  for failure to repair any condition described or give notice thereof  as
  provided for in this paragraph.
    (i) Record of inscriptions to be filed. Whenever, under any general or
  special law, any cemetery is abandoned or is taken for a public use, the
  town  board  of the town or the governing body of the city in which such
  cemetery is located, shall cause to be made, at the time of the  removal
  of  the  bodies  interred  therein, an exact copy of all inscriptions on
  each headstone, monument, slab or marker erected on each lot or plot  in
  such  cemetery  and  shall cause the same to be duly certified and shall
  file one copy thereof in the office of the town or  city  clerk  of  the
  town  or  city  in  which  such cemetery was located and one copy in the
  office of the state historian and chief of the division  of  history  in
  the department of education at Albany. In addition to such inscriptions,
  such  certificate  shall  state the name and location of the cemetery so
  abandoned or taken for a public use, the cemetery  in  which  each  such
  body  was  so  interred  and  the  disposition  of  each such headstone,
  monument, slab or marker.
    (j) Grave markers. No cemetery corporation,  which  provides  for  the
  burial  of  persons  of  the  Jewish faith, shall promulgate any rule or
  regulation prohibiting the use of cement beds as a means of  demarcating
  a  specific  grave  area.  Such cemetery corporations shall provide this
  service to all persons of the Jewish faith  requesting  this  method  of
  marking a grave when such grave area is provided through the agency of a
  membership  or  religious  corporation  or unincorporated association or
  society which provides burial benefits for the members. Subject  to  the
  rules  and  regulations promulgated by the cemetery board, such cemetery
  corporations shall establish the schedule of charges to be assessed  for
  installation  and  maintenance  of  cement beds. The schedule of charges
  shall be filed with and approved by the cemetery board. Such  regulation
  may  require the payment of the cost of perpetual care as a condition to
  such installation and maintenance. The charges assessed shall be paid by
  the person requesting the service.  The  provisions  of  this  paragraph
  shall only be applicable within the counties contained within the first,
  second,  tenth  and  eleventh  judicial  districts as such districts are
  arranged pursuant to section one hundred forty of the judiciary law.
    (k) Notice  and  restoration  as  to  damage  and  defacement  due  to
  vandalism.    In the event a monument is damaged or defaced by an act of
  vandalism, the cemetery corporation shall, within  thirty  days  of  the
  discovery  of  such  damage,  notify  the  owner, his distributee or the
  person filing  an  affidavit  with  such  corporation  pursuant  to  the
  provisions  of  paragraph  one  of  subdivision  (e)  of section fifteen
  hundred twelve of this article of such damage in the manner provided  in
  subdivision (h) of this section. The cost and expense of such notice may
  be  provided  from  the  fund where such fund exists. If a fund has been
  established, the cemetery corporation shall restore  the  monument  with
  moneys  from such fund. If such a fund has not been established or where
  such  fund  is  inadequate  to  restore  the  monument,   the   cemetery
  corporation  may  restore  such  monument  at  its own cost and expense.
  Nothing herein contained shall be construed as establishing any right of
  damages not otherwise provided by law, rule or contract  in  any  person
  against  the cemetery corporation for failure to restore any monument if
  no monument maintenance fund exists or if such  fund  is  inadequate  to
  restore such monument.
    (l)  Removal  of  monument.  No  person or organization shall remove a
  monument without authorization in the form of a court order from a court
  of competent jurisdiction, or without the written authorization  of  the
  owner  of  a  burial plot, or the lineal descendants of the deceased, if
  such owner or  lineal  descendants  are  known,  and  without  obtaining
  written  approval  from  a duly incorporated cemetery association, which
  association shall keep a record  of  all  such  written  approvals.  The
  provisions of this section shall not prohibit the removal, in accordance
  with  rules  and regulations promulgated by the secretary of state, of a
  monument for the purpose of repair, nonpayment or adding inscriptions as
  authorized  by a cemetery association or as permitted in this article. A
  violation of any provision of this paragraph shall be  punishable  by  a
  fine not to exceed five hundred dollars.
    (m)  Use of construction and demolition debris for burial. No cemetery
  corporation or religious corporation having  charge  and  control  of  a
  cemetery  which  heretofore  has been or which hereafter may be used for
  burials, shall use construction and demolition debris, as that  term  is
  defined in 6 NYCRR 360-1.2, for the purpose of burying human remains.