All disinterments and removals are to be conducted by qualified funeral homes or contractors. The city shall provide the gravesite information to the qualified funeral home or contractor for the disinterment.
(A) To more desirable gravesite. A body may be removed from its original gravesite to a larger or more desirable gravesite when there has been an exchange or purchase for that purpose and proper consent is obtained.
(B) Care in removal. Funeral homes or contractors must ensure that the utmost care is taken in undertaking a removal. The city shall not be liable for damage to a casket, burial case or urn sustained in the removal.
(C) Removal for profit. Removal of remains for the purpose of resale of the gravesite for profit, or removal contrary to the expressed or implied desire to the original gravesite owner, is repugnant to the ordinary sense of decency and is prohibited.
(D) Removal for autopsy. Remains may be removed for autopsy only upon written consent as prescribed in division (E) below of this section or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(E) Consent. Remains interred in a cemetery may be removed in accordance with Tex. Health and Safety Code § 711.004 requiring the written consent of the city and the written consent of the current gravesite owner or owners and of the following persons, in the priority listed:
(1) The decedent's surviving spouse;
(2) The decedent's surviving adult children;
(3) The decedent's surviving parents;
(4) The decedent's adult siblings; or
(5) The adult person in the next degree of heirship in the order named by law to inherit the estate of the deceased.
(F) Status of consent givers. A person listed in division (E) above of this section may consent to the removal only if there is no person in a priority listed before the person.
(G) Consent of court. If the consent required by division (E) above of this section cannot be obtained, the remains may be removed by permission of a county court. Before the date of application to the court for consent to remove remains under this section, written notice shall be given by the applicant to:
(1) The city;
(2) Each person whose consent is required for removal under division (E) above of this section; and
(3) Any other person that the court requires to be served.
(H) Notice. For the purposes of division (G) above of this section, personal notice must be given not later than the eleventh day before the date of the application to the court for permission to remove the remains or a notice by certified or registered mail must be given not later than the sixteenth day before the date of the application.
(I) Removal requires order of state registrar or county court; record of order. Remains may not be removed from the cemetery except on the written order of the state registrar or the state registrar's designee having jurisdiction of the cemetery or the county court. The city shall keep a duplicate copy of the order as part of its records.
(J) Record of removal to be kept by remover. A person who removes the remains from a cemetery shall keep a record of the removal that includes:
(1) The date the remains are removed;
(2) The name and age at death of the decedent if those facts can be conveniently obtained;
(3) The place to which the remains are removed; and
(4) The gravesite location from which the remains were removed.
(K) Disposition of remains not reinterred. If the remains are not reinterred, the person who removes the remains shall make and keep a record of the disposition of the remains.
(L) Copies of records required by divisions (J) and (K) of this section to be forwarded to city. A person who removes remains from a cemetery shall give the city a copy of the record required by divisions (J) and (K) above of this section, and the city shall keep the copy as a part of its records.
(M) Oversight of removals. The city shall have the right to oversee the removal of remains from the cemetery.
(N) Permits required. The city shall require permits as may be provided by law or order of a court of competent jurisdiction for removal or disinterment.
(O) State law controls. To the extent that the provisions of Tex. Health and Safety Code § 711.004 or other applicable state law, now or in the future, conflict with or supercede the provisions of this section concerning removals and disinterments of remains, Tex. Health and Safety Code § 711.004 or other applicable state law shall control.
(Ord. 662, passed 9-14-2004) Penalty, see § 93.99