The city, without surrendering its defenses and objections to providing funding for the disposition for human remains, does hereby establish this policy for compliance with R.C. § 9.15.
(A) As used in this section, LEGAL RESIDENCE means a permanent place of abode used or occupied as living quarters at the time of a person's death, including a nursing home, hospital, or other care facility.
(B) When the body of a dead person is found in the City of Hillsboro, and such person was not an inmate of a correctional, benevolent, or charitable institution of this state, and the body is not claimed by any person for private interment or cremation at the person's own expense, or delivered for the purpose of medical or surgical study or dissection in accordance with R.C. § 1713.34, it shall be disposed of as follows:
(1) If the person was a legal resident of the county, the proper officers of the municipal corporation in which the person's body was found shall cause it to be buried or cremated at the expense of the municipal corporation in which the person had a legal residence at the time of death.
(2) If the person had a legal residence in any other county of the state at the time of death, the superintendent of the county home of the county in which such body was found shall cause it to be buried or cremated at the expense of the township or municipal corporation in which the person had a legal residence at the time of death.
(3) Such officials shall provide, at the grave of the person or, if the person's cremated remains are buried, at the grave of the person's cremated remains, a metal, stone, or concrete marker on which the person's name and age, if known, and date of death shall be inscribed.
(C) The City Auditor, upon information supplied upon a form devised by the Auditor's office for that purpose that an indigent resident of the county was found deceased within the corporation limits of the city, shall immediately inquire of the funeral homes in the southwest Ohio area as to the cost and availability of services to make disposition of human remains; and shall provide up to $750 toward the entire cost of the disposition, determining the lowest responsive, responsible proposal, as in the Auditor's opinion best serves the needs of the city.
(D) Any costs advanced by the city for the disposition of the human remains shall be certified to the Law Director for collection, who is authorized and directed to sue any person legally responsible for the costs, begin probate proceedings as a creditor to determine the assets of the decedent available to pay the costs, and collect the estate assets and reimburse the city for costs and legal fees as authorized by the probate court.
(E) (1) The Auditor may summon witnesses and administer oaths in order to determine the indigent status of a decedent, the actual costs necessary for the disposition of human remains, and the location where the decedent was found and decedent's residence.
(2) Witness fees and court reporter costs shall be paid from the city treasury in addition to the disposition costs.
(F) Any payment made under this policy is subject to recovery in the event it appears the deceased person was not entitled to have disposition made at the expense of the city if discovered at any time within two years of payment; and the city retains a lien for that period of time upon the property and accounts of the payee for that period of time to collect any judgment for recovery of payments.
(1982 Code, § 38.30) (Ord. 2013-6, passed 8-12-2013; Ord. 2023-19, passed 7-13-2023)