945.07 INTERMENT RIGHTS OF PLOT OR NICHE OWNERS.
(a) No body or remains except that of a human being may be interred or inurned in the cemetery.
(b) With the written approval of the owner of record, or in the case of multiple ownership, of any co-owner, of a plot or niche, any person may be interred in such plot or niche. The Director of Public Service shall be entitled to rely on the written approval of one co- owner. Written approval must be in the form of a notarized affidavit and must be submitted to the Director of Public Service. Such written approval will automatically expire upon the submittal of a subsequent affidavit by the same owner or upon the owner's death, or upon submittal of affidavits of a majority of co-owners, provided the City has not already acted in reliance of the first affidavit.
(c) Notice to the City of the grave assignment must be made by the record owner at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the burial. If no assignment is made within that period of time, the City will designate the grave assignment.
(d) When a person is to be interred upon a plot or in a niche, the aforesaid written approval may be omitted by the Director of Public Service if he is satisfied that such person is related to the owner, or to a co-owner or to a person then interred upon such plot or niche, as a:
(1) Spouse;
(2) Lineal descendent or lineal ancestor; or
(3) Brother or sister.
(e) When the owner of record of a plot or niche is deceased and no action has been taken to transfer ownership on the cemetery records to a living person or persons, or when there is no known living person upon whom ownership may devolve, the Cemetery Division, with the approval of the Director of Public Service, may consent to the interment thereon of a deceased person as to whom there is reasonable ground to believe that such person would be entitled to be an owner or co-owner by devolution of title from the last owner of record under the statutes of descent and distribution of the State in effect at the time of such interment.
(f) When a death occurs, and it is desired that the decedent be interred in the cemetery, very little time is available to the Director of Public Service for research into the relationship of the decedent to the owner or co-owner or to a person then interred upon a plot or niche. Many plots in the cemetery have a record owner or owners who are long deceased, and for which there is no record or information of the names or addresses of living persons who would be entitled to record ownership under Section 945.15. In such situations, it is the policy of the City to construe this section liberally, so that the requested interment may proceed without protracted research or to the embarrassment of relatives and friends.
(Ord. 119-1996. Passed 9-9-96.)