CHAPTER 157
DISPOSITION OF HUMAN REMAINS
SUBCHAPTER I
CORPSES
157.01 Rules for preparation, transportation and disposition.
157.02 Disposal of unclaimed corpses.
157.03 Restrictions on use of bodies for anatomical purposes; embalming such bodies; delivery of bodies to relatives.
157.055 Disposal of human remains during state of emergency relating to public health.
SUBCHAPTER II
CEMETERIES
157.062 Cemetery associations; creation; powers and duties.
157.064 Cemetery associations and religious associations; holding property; change of ownership.
157.065 Location and ownership of cemeteries.
157.067 Connection with funeral establishment prohibited.
157.10 Alienation, disposition, and use of cemetery lots and mausoleum spaces.
157.11 Improvement and care of cemetery lots and grounds.
157.111 Opening and closing of burial places.
157.112 Reburial of human remains by a cemetery authority.
157.113 Permission to place cremated human remains in a cemetery.
157.114 Duty to provide for burials.
157.115 Abandonment of cemeteries and cemetery lots.
157.123 Columbaria maintained by religious associations.
157.125 Trustees for the care of cemeteries or cemetery lots.
157.128 Minimum acreage requirement for cemetery established on or after November 1, 1991.
157.129 Minimum acreage of cemeteries; local ordinance.
157.19 Deposit and investment of care funds and preneed trust funds.
157.50 Municipal cemeteries.
157.60 Public easement in cemetery.
157.62 Reporting; record keeping; audits.
157.625 Reporting exemption for certain cemeteries.
157.63 Reporting and auditing exemptions; certification of compliance of cemetery organized and operated by, or affiliated with, a religious association.
157.635 Regulations of cemetery organized and operated by, or affiliated with, a religious association.
SUBCHAPTER III
BURIAL SITES PRESERVATION
157.70 Burial sites preservation.
Ch. 157 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See s.
69.18 for 1) registration of deaths; 2) medical certification; 3) disposition of corpse or stillbirth; and 4) disinterment and reinterment.
CORPSES
157.01
157.01
Rules for preparation, transportation and disposition. The department of health services shall make, and delegate to the funeral directors examining board the enforcement of, rules not inconsistent with
ch. 445 covering the control of communicable diseases and sanitary and health regulations in the preparation, transportation and disposition of dead human bodies.
157.01 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also chs.
DHS 135 and
136, Wis. adm. code.
157.02
157.02
Disposal of unclaimed corpses. 157.02(1)
(1)
Notice to relatives. When an inmate of any state, county or municipal institution dies, the superintendent or other person in charge of the institution shall immediately notify a relative of the decedent. A public officer having the possession or the disposition of a corpse shall immediately notify a relative of the decedent. If no relative is known, or discoverable by use of ordinary diligence, notice may be dispensed with. In addition, if the deceased had been an inmate of a state correctional institution, the department of corrections shall provide written notification to the relative informing him or her that the department of corrections, upon request, will provide a copy of any autopsy report or other report or information pertaining to the death. The department of corrections shall describe how the request may be made and shall promptly comply with any such request.
157.02(2)
(2) Time allowed relative to act. If a relative or friend fails to arrange for taking charge of the corpse within a reasonable time after death, the superintendent or other officer may proceed as provided in this section, but relatives or friends may claim the corpse at any time before it has been delivered pursuant to
sub. (3).
157.02(3)
(3) Notice to university or school. If the corpse is in the Mendota Mental Health Institute district, the University of Wisconsin shall be notified that it may have the corpse. If the corpse is in the Winnebago Mental Health Institute district, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc., or any accredited school of mortuary science at Milwaukee shall be notified that it may have the corpse. The university or school so notified shall immediately inform the superintendent or public officer whether it desires to have the corpse. If it does, the corpse shall be delivered accordingly, properly encased, to the most available facility for transportation to the consignee, the consignee to pay the cost of transportation.
157.02(4)
(4) Standing applications. If there are advance applications for such bodies, by the Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc., or any accredited school of mortuary science, the superintendent or public officer shall make an equitable distribution between them.
157.02(5)
(5) Other disposition. If the corpse is not disposed of under
subs. (1) to
(4), the superintendent or public officer shall properly bury it.
