§ 164. Abandonment of cemeteries in cities of less than one million.
Upon a verified petition presented to a judge of a court of record by
the common council of any city of less than one million, the judge to
whom said verified petition was presented shall make an order to show
cause, returnable before him at a time and place within the county in
not less than twenty days from the date of presentation of said
petition, why the remains of any deceased person buried in potters
field, or in any neglected or abandoned cemeteries in which no deceased
person shall have been interred within twenty years, should not be
removed to and reinterred in a properly kept incorporated cemetery in
the same city or in a town or city adjoining the city in which the
remains of each deceased person or persons are buried, or in lands owned
by said city for cemetery purposes, and to fix the amount of expenses
for such removal and reinterment and the order to show cause shall
provide for its publication in a newspaper, to be designated in the
order, which is published nearest to the cemetery from which the removal
is to be made, once in each week for two successive weeks. The verified
petition presented to the judge shall show that the petitioner is the
common council of the city in which said cemetery is located and (1) the
name of the deceased person or persons whose remains are sought to be
removed, if known; (2) the name and location of the cemetery in which he
is interred and from which removal is asked to be made; (3) the name and
the location of the incorporated cemetery to which the remains are
desired to be removed and reinterred; (4) the facts showing the reasons
for such removal. Upon the return day of the order to show cause and at
the time and place fixed in said order, upon filing proof of publication
of the order to show cause with the judge, if no objection is made
thereto, he shall make an order directing the removal of the remains of
said deceased person or persons to the cemetery designated in the
petition within the city or within a town or city adjoining said city in
which the remains are then buried and shall specify in the order the
amount of the expenses of such removal, which expenses of removal and
reinterment, including the expense of the proceeding under this section,
shall be a charge upon the city in which the cemetery is situated from
which the removal is made and such expenses shall be a city charge and
audited and paid in the same manner as other charges. On or after the
removal and reinterment of the remains of any deceased person or
persons, the expenses for annual care of the grave in the cemetery to
which the removal is made shall be annually provided by the city in
which the remains were originally buried at a rate not to exceed fifty
cents per grave, and shall be paid annually to the incorporated cemetery
association to which the remains of each deceased person may be removed
or reinterred unless said remains have been removed to lands owned by
said city for cemetery purposes, in which case such payment shall be
made under the provisions of the city ordinance providing for the care
and upkeep of said cemetery lands owned by said city. Any city owning a
lot or lots in a cemetery maintained by an incorporated cemetery
association in which the remains of the deceased persons have been or
may be buried pursuant to this section, however, may pay such
association an amount sufficient to provide perpetual care therefor.
The petition and order shall be filed in the county clerk's office of
the county in which the remains of the deceased person were originally
interred, and the service of a certified copy of the final order upon
the cemetery association shall be made prior to any removal. Any
relatives of the deceased person or the officer of any cemetery
association in which the remains of deceased person were originally
interred may oppose the granting of said order and the judge shall
summarily hear the statement of the parties and make such order as the
justice and equity of the application shall require. Any headstone or
monument which marks the grave of the deceased person shall be removed
and reset at the grave in the cemetery to which the removal is permitted
to be made and in each case the final order shall provide the amount of
expenses of such removals and reinterment and resetting of the
headstones or monument, including the expenses for the proceedings under
this section; except that where provision is otherwise made for the
purchase or erection of a new headstone, monument or marker at the grave
in the cemetery to which said removal is permitted, such old headstone
or monument need not be so removed and reset in which case the final
order shall not provide for the expense of resetting. The order shall
designate the person or persons having charge of the removals or
reinterments. Upon completion of the removal, reinterment or resetting
the headstones or monuments, the person or persons having charge of same
shall make a verified report of the removal, reinterment, and resetting
of the headstone or monument and file the report in the clerk's office
of the proper county.

After said bodies shall have been removed and reinterred in the manner
prescribed by said order, said lands in which such deceased persons were
originally interred shall be available for and subject to such uses for
city purposes as the common council of such city may determine and may
be conveyed or otherwise disposed of in the same manner as other city
lands.