§ 23-18-10 - City and town regulation of burial grounds.
SECTION 23-18-10
§ 23-18-10 City and town regulation ofburial grounds. – (a) The city or town council of any city or town may prohibit burials in thecompact or thickly-populated parts of the city or town, and may make any bylawsand ordinances relating to burials and the use of grounds for burials in thecity or town that it may think necessary for preserving the health of the cityor town, and as necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, and mayenforce the ordinances in the manner provided in chapter 18 of this title.
(b) The town councils of the towns of East Greenwich andSmithfield and the city councils of the cities of East Providence, Warwick,Cranston, and Woonsocket, after having prevented further burials in those partsof their towns or cities as provided in subsection (a), may order, inaccordance with this chapter, the owner of the burial ground so prohibited, andin the interest of public welfare, to cause to be removed the cadavers orremains of any persons buried in the burial ground, and transferred to andinterred in some other cemetery within the state, the removal and interment tobe under the direction of a qualified funeral director and with the approval ofthe nearest of kin of the deceased and at the expense of the owner of the land.
(c) No cadaver or remains shall be removed unless the ownerof the land shall give notice by certified mail to the nearest of kin known tohim or her, and by advertising in one or more daily newspapers havingcirculation within the town or city at least once a week for three (3)successive weeks. In the event there shall be no nearest of kin known to theowner or that the nearest of kin shall neglect or refuse to approve the removaland interment, the city or town shall cause the cadavers or remains to beremoved, transferred, and interred in any other cemetery in accordance with thelaws, rules, and regulations of the religious denomination, if any shall beknown or ascertained, to which the deceased subscribed.