(a) Schedule of Costs.
(1) The Mayor and Clerk are hereby authorized to pay the following sums for professional services rendered by funeral directors to prepare and deliver mortal remains of individuals eligible by Ohio R.C. 5101.521 for disposition.
(2) The Mayor and Clerk are also hereby authorized to purchase and pay for a stone or concrete grave marker on which the person’s name, age (if known), and date of death shall be inscribed.
(b) Determination of Eligibility of Decedent. Before any disposition of mortal remains are made pursuant to this legislation, the funeral director must submit the following to the Chairperson of the Cemetery Board (on behalf of the Village of Woodsfield):
(1) A statement for the amount requested to be paid by the Village;
(2) Two copies of the death certificate and one copy of the burial permit; and
(3) An original certificate of indigency form completed by the next of kin, or if next of kin is not available, the most knowledgeable individual concerning the affairs of the deceased, for the purpose of determining whether the deceased qualifies to be buried at the Village’s expense pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5101.021. This certificate shall be in a form prescribed by the Chairperson of the Cemetery Board of Trustees and shall be completed, signed, and witnessed in the offices of the Woodsfield Municipal Building, or on other location designated by the Chairperson of the Cemetery Board of Trustees, prior to the day of burial. This information must satisfy the Cemetery Board that any family of the deceased is unable, for want of means, to defray the expenses of burial or cremation, or that the family may be deprived of means actually necessary for its immediate support.
(c) Method of Disposition of Remains of Indigent. Disposition of mortal remains of individuals eligible by Ohio R.C. 5101.521 shall be prioritized as follows:
(1) Donation to science. The Chairperson of the Cemetery Board shall notify the professor of anatomy in a college which by its charter is empowered to teach anatomy, or the secretary of the board of embalmers and funeral directors of this state, of the fact that such a body is being held for disposition. If after thirty-six hours the body has not been accepted by friends or relatives for burial at their expense, such Chairperson of the Cemetery Board of Trustees, on the written application of such professor or officer, or the secretary of the board of embalmers and funeral directors, shall deliver to such professor or secretary, for the purpose of medical or surgical study or dissection of for the study of embalming, the body of any such person who died in any of such institutions from any disease which is not infectious.
(2) Cremation. If such body cannot be donated to science, then the mortal remains shall be cremated.
(3) Burial. If such body cannot be donated to science or cremated, then the mortal remains shall be buried.
(d) Timing of Disposition of Remains of Indigent. Disposition of mortal remains of individuals eligible by Ohio R.C. 5101.521 shall be scheduled for weekdays Monday through Friday, and not occurring on a holiday recognized by the Village of Woodsfield.
(e) Eligibility for Reimbursement. Should it be determined, after any payment by the Village pursuant to this legislation, that such payment was made for disposal of the mortal remains of a decedent whom the Village did not have the responsibility to dispose of, the Village shall be entitled to any means, assets, insurance, or other benefits payable on behalf of such decedent by any person or agency who had the responsibility to pay burial benefits pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5101.521, up to an amount totaling the payment made pursuant to this legislation. (Ord. 999-02. Passed 9-16-02.)
(f) Disposition of Remains of Indigent Persons. The mortal remains of persons required to be buried or cremated at the expense of the Village of Woodsfield pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5101.521(A) shall be buried or entombed at the sole discretion of the Village.
(Ord. 1080-08. Passed 2-19-08.)
(g) Penalty. Whoever violates any provision of this section for which another penalty is not already provided is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(Ord. 999-02. Passed 9-16-02.)