§ 205.27 Disinterment Permits; Opening of Coffins or Caskets.
RCNY § 205.27
(a)No person shall disinter a coffin or casket containing human remains or expose or disturb a mausoleum, vault, tomb, grave or other place of burial unless a disinterment permit has been issued by the Department, but this requirement does not apply during the course of a burial for which a burial permit has been obtained pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code § 205.21. No disinterment permit is required when the disinterment is ordered by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner or the district attorney of a county within the City in the exercise of official duties. A disinterred coffin or casket containing human remains shall be prepared so as to comply with the State Sanitary Code.
(b)Disinterment permits may be issued only to funeral directors and undertakers of, if the remains are to be reburied in the same cemetery, to the person in charge of the cemetery. Application for a disinterment permit shall be made on a form furnished by the Department and submitted at any office maintained and designated by the Department for such purposes. The application shall be supported by an affidavit from the person in control of disposition or other authorized person requesting disinterment. Such affidavit shall be maintained by the funeral director or undertaker.
(c)No person, other than the chief medical examiner or the chief medical examiner's duly authorized representative, shall open a coffin or casket which has been disinterred unless the opening is ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
