295 - Removal of remains of deceased members of armed forces.

§  295. Removal of remains of deceased members of armed forces. Upon a  verified petition presented to a judge of a court of record by any armed  forces' organization in any town or city in this state by a majority  of  its  officers,  or  a  majority of any memorial committee in any town or  city where there are two or more veteran armed forces' organizations, or  in  towns  or  cities  where  there  are  no   veteran   armed   forces'  organizations,  upon  the petition of five or more veterans of the armed  forces, the judge to whom said verified petition is presented shall make  an order to show cause, returnable before him at a time and place within  the county in not less than fourteen or more than twenty days  from  the  date  of  presentation of said petition, why the remains of any deceased  members of the  armed  forces  buried  in  potter's  field,  or  in  any  neglected  or  abandoned  cemeteries,  should  not  be  removed  to  and  reinterred in a properly kept incorporated cemetery in the same town  or  city  or  in a town adjoining the town or city in which the remains of a  deceased member of the armed forces are buried, and to fix the amount of  the 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 sought to be made, once  in  each  week  for  two  successive  weeks.  The verified petition presented to the judge shall show that the  petitioners are a majority of the officers of  a  veteran  armed  forces  organization,  or  a majority of a memorial committee in towns or cities  where two or more veteran armed forces organizations exist, or that  the  petitioners  are  honorably  discharged  veterans of the armed forces in  towns or cities where no veteran armed forces organization  exists,  and  (1)  the  name  of  the  deceased member or members of the armed forces,  whose remains are sought to be removed, and if known the unit  in  which  he or they served; (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  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  member  or  members  of  the  armed  forces  to  the  cemetery  designated  in  the  petition  within  the town or city or within a town  adjoining the town or 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 county in  which the town or city is situated from which the removal  is  made  and  such  expenses  shall  be  a  county  charge and audited by the board of  supervisors of the county and paid in the same manner  as  other  county  charges.  On and after the removal and reinterment of the remains of the  deceased member or members of the armed  forces  in  the  armed  forces'  plot,  the  expenses  for  annual care of the grave in the armed forces'  burial plot to which the removal is made shall be annually  provided  by  the  town  or  city  in which the remains were originally buried, at the  rate of not to exceed twenty  dollars  per  grave,  and  shall  be  paid  annually  to  the incorporated cemetery association to which the remains  of each  deceased  member  of  the  armed  forces  may  be  removed  and  reinterred.  The petition and order shall be filed in the county clerk's  office of the county in which the remains of the deceased member of  the  armed  forces  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 relative of the deceased member or members ofthe armed forces, or the officer of any cemetery  association  in  which  the  remains  of the deceased member or members of the armed forces were  originally interred, or the authorities  of  the  county  in  which  the  member or members of the armed forces were originally buried, 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 member of the armed forces  shall  be  removed  and reset at the grave in the cemetery in which the removal is permitted  to  be made and in each case the final order shall provide the amount of  the expenses of such removals  and  reinterment  and  resetting  of  the  headstone  or  monument, including the expenses of 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 such removal is permitted, such old headstone  or monument need not be so removed and reset, in which case  such  final  order  shall  not  provide for the expense of resetting. The order shall  designate the person or  persons  having  charge  of  the  removals  and  reinterments.  Upon completion of the removal, reinterment and resetting  of the headstones or monuments, the person or persons having  charge  of  the  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. The words "member of the armed  forces" shall be construed to mean an honorably discharged member of the  armed forces who served in the armed forces of the  United  States,  and  the  words "armed forces plot" shall be construed to mean a plot of land  in any incorporated cemetery set apart to be exclusively used as a place  for interring the remains of deceased veterans of the  armed  forces  of  the United States.