12-701.

Conveyed lots; reversion; conditions; procedure; effect.

(1) For purposes of this section, lot owner means the purchaser of a cemetery lot or such purchaser's heirs, administrators, trustees, legatees, devisees, or assigns.

(2) Whenever a county, city, or village has acquired real estate for the purpose of maintaining a cemetery or has acquired a cemetery from a cemetery association pursuant to section 12-530, or a city or village is the owner of a cemetery pursuant to section 15-239, 16-241, or 17-926, and such county, city, or village or its predecessor in title has conveyed any platted lot or other designated piece of ground within the area of such cemetery, all rights to such conveyed platted lot or other designated piece of ground, other than ground in which dead human remains are actually buried and all ground within two feet of such human remains, may be revested in the county, city, or village in the following manner and subject to the following conditions:

(a) No interment shall have been made in the lot or other designated piece of ground for a period of at least thirty years prior to the commencement of any proceedings to revest such lot or other designated piece of ground pursuant to this section;

(b) If a lot owner is a resident of the county where the cemetery is located, the governing body of the county, city, or village shall cause to be served upon such lot owner a notice that proceedings have been initiated to revest all rights in such lot in the county, city, or village and that such lot owner may, within the time provided by the notice, file with the county clerk, city clerk, or village clerk a statement in writing explaining how rights in the lot were acquired and that such person desires to assert interment rights in the lot. The notice shall be served in the manner provided for service of summons in a civil case and shall provide a period of not less than thirty days in which such statement can be filed. If the governing body ascertains that the statement filed by the lot owner is a valid claim asserting the rights of the lot owner in the lot, all further proceedings by the governing body to revest title of the lot in the county, city, or village shall be terminated by the governing body as to the lot identified in the statement;

(c) If it is determined that the lot owner is not a resident of the county and cannot be found in the county, the governing body may cause the notice required by subdivision (b) of this subsection to be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the county, city, or village where such lot is located. Such notice shall contain a general description of the title reversion proceedings to be undertaken by the governing body pursuant to this section, the relevant lot number and description, and name of the lot owner. In addition, the notice shall notify the lot owner that such lot owner may, within the time provided by the notice, file with the county clerk, city clerk, or village clerk a statement setting forth how such lot owner acquired rights in the lot and that such lot owner desires to assert such rights. If the governing body ascertains that the statement filed by the lot owner is a valid claim asserting the rights of the lot owner in the lot, all further proceedings by the governing body to revest all interests in the lot in the county, city, or village shall be terminated by the governing body as to the lot identified in the statement;

(d) All notices, including proof of service, and all rules and regulations, ordinances, or resolutions adopted by the governing body relative to reversion proceedings under this section shall be made a part of the public records of such governing body;

(e) Any lot owner who fails to timely file a statement asserting a right in a lot in accordance with subdivisions (b) and (c) of this subsection shall be deemed to have abandoned such right in such lot. The appropriate governing body may then bring an action in the district court of the county in which the cemetery is located against all lot owners in default, joining as many parties so in default as it may desire in one action, to have the rights of the parties in such lots or parcels terminated and the property restored to the governing body of such cemetery free of any right, title, or interest of all such defaulting parties or their heirs, administrators, trustees, legatees, devisees, or assigns. Such action in all other respects shall be brought and determined in the same manner as other actions to determine title to real estate;

(f) In all cases brought under this section, the fact that the lot owner has not, for a term of more than thirty successive years, had occasion to make an interment in the lot and did not, upon notification provided pursuant to this section, assert a claim in such lot, shall be considered prima facie evidence that the lot owner has abandoned any rights such lot owner may have had in such lot;

(g) A certified copy of the judgments in such actions quieting title may be filed in the office of the register of deeds in and for the county in which the cemetery is situated; and

(h) All notices and all proceedings pursuant to this section shall distinctly describe the portion of such lot unused for burial purposes and the county, city, or village shall leave sufficient ingress to, and egress from, any grave upon the lot, either by duly dedicated streets or alleys in the cemetery, or by leaving sufficient amounts of the unused portions of the cemetery for such purposes.

(3) This section shall not apply to any lot in any cemetery association where a perpetual care contract has been entered into between such cemetery or the county, city, or village and the owner of such lot.

(4) Compliance with the terms of this section shall fully revest the county, city, or village with, and divest the lot owner of record of, title to such lot or portions of such lot unused for burial purposes as though the lot had never been conveyed to any person, and such county, city, or village shall have, hold, and enjoy such unclaimed portions of such lot for its own uses and purposes, subject to the laws of this state, to the charter of such cemetery, and to the rules and regulations, ordinances, or resolutions of such governing county, city, or village.

(5) Any transfer by a lot owner of the interment right to a lot shall be subject to any rules and regulations, ordinances, or resolutions adopted and promulgated by the county, city, or village.