                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ABANDONED OR PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED GRAVEYARDS MAY BE CONDEMNED; REMOVAL OF
BODIES (§ 57-36)

A. When a graveyard, wholly or partly within any locality, has been abandoned,
is unused and neglected by the owners, or is a previously unidentified
graveyard, and such graveyard is necessary, in whole or in part, for public
purposes, authorized by the charter of such locality, or by the general statutes
providing for the government of localities, such locality may acquire title to
such burying ground by condemnation proceedings, to be instituted and conducted
in the manner and mode prescribed in the statutes providing for the exercise of
the power of eminent domain by localities. The locality may continue to maintain
all or a portion of the burying ground as a graveyard.

B. The court taking jurisdiction of the case may, in its discretion, require the
locality to acquire the whole burying ground, in which event the locality may
use such part thereof as may be necessary for its purposes and sell the residue.
The court, however, shall direct that the remains interred in such graveyard, if
possible so to do, be removed to some repository used and maintained as a
cemetery.

C. Should any locality, having acquired by any means land on which a previously
unidentified or abandoned graveyard is located, including lands acquired in
accordance with &#xA7; 22.1-126.1 for educational purposes, initiate plans to
use that land for purposes other than to maintain the graveyard, such locality
shall, prior to completion of said plans, develop and engage in active public
notice and participation regarding efforts to avoid adverse impacts to the
graveyard or to remove the remains interred in such graveyard to an alternative
repository. Such public notice and participation shall include, at minimum,
publication of at least one notice in a local newspaper of general circulation,
notice posted at the site of the graveyard, and notice to and consultation with
any historic preservation or other such commission, as well as area historical
and genealogical societies, and at least one public hearing. The locality shall
make a good faith effort to identify and contact living descendants of the
persons buried in the graveyard, if known. In addition, the locality is
encouraged to post such notice on the Internet, including appropriate websites
and through the use of social media, and to consult with the Virginia Department
of Historic Resources. Having given all public comment due consideration, the
locality is encouraged first to adjust plans to maintain the graveyard as part
of the larger land use plan or, if that is not feasible, to request permission
to proceed with removal through the court or through the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources should archaeological removal be appropriate. In any event,
any removal of remains should be given all due care and respect, as should the
selection of and reburial in another cemetery. This requirement for public
notice, consultation, consideration of comments, and following due process for
removal of human remains shall apply in cases where the presence of a previously
unidentified or abandoned graveyard is discovered during either the planning or
construction phases of a project.

D. Any locality that has acquired by any means land on which a previously
unidentified or abandoned cemetery or gravesite of any Virginian held as a slave
at the time of his death is located shall notify the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources of the location of such cemetery or gravesite. The Department
shall record the location of the cemetery or gravesite. A listing of the
locations of all previously unidentified or abandoned cemeteries and gravesites
of Virginians held as slaves at the time of their deaths that have been provided
to the Department shall be maintained by the Department as a public record.

HISTORY: Code 1919, § 54; 1985, c. 95; 2010, c. 617; 2014, c. 588; 2019, c.
195.