Court order required for disinterment and removal of human remains; petition; hearing; maintenance of records by cemetery authority; exceptions.
Nev. Rev. Stat. § 451.070
in effect1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, a cemetery authority shall not disinter or remove human remains interred in all or any part of a cemetery owned, leased or operated by the cemetery authority without a court order authorizing the cemetery authority to do so.
2. A cemetery authority may petition the district court of the county in which a cemetery is located for an order authorizing the disinterment and removal of human remains interred in all or any part of a cemetery owned, leased or operated by the cemetery authority. The petition must:
(a) Contain a concise statement as to the necessity of the proposed action; and
(b) Be accompanied by adequate documentation to justify a hearing on the petition.
3. Upon the filing of a petition pursuant to subsection 2, the court shall fix a time for a hearing on the matter. The petitioner shall provide notice and a copy of the petition to every person who owns, holds or has the right of interment in any plot of the cemetery or part affected whose name appears on the records of the cemetery or upon the real property assessment roll of the county in which the cemetery is located. If a person who receives such notice wishes to oppose the petition, the person must appear before the court at the hearing. If the person appears before the court at the hearing, the court must provide the person an opportunity to be heard on the matter.
4. After the hearing described in subsection 3, the court may issue an order authorizing the disinterment and removal of human remains from all or any part of the cemetery if:
(a) The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that:
(1) The maintenance of all or any part of the cemetery that is the subject of the petition as a burial place for the human dead is not in accordance with the health, safety, comfort or welfare of the public;
(2) The cemetery authority is unable to restore the cemetery or part of the cemetery that is the subject of the petition to a condition where the maintenance of the cemetery as a burial place for the human dead is in accordance with the health, safety, comfort and welfare of the public; and
(3) The cemetery authority is unable, at current market rates, to sell or lease the cemetery that is the subject of the petition to or enter into a contract with another cemetery authority that will maintain the cemetery that is the subject of the petition as a burial place for the human dead in accordance with the health, safety, comfort and welfare of the public; or
(b) The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that such disinterment and removal is necessary because of the financial obligations of the cemetery authority for future care of gravesites within a specified area.
5. Upon the issuance of an order pursuant to subsection 4, a cemetery authority may proceed to disinter and remove the remains in accordance with the provisions of NRS 451.069 to 451.330 , inclusive.
6. The cemetery authority shall:
(a) Maintain a written record for each person whose remains are disinterred and removed, which must include, without limitation:
(1) The name of the person;
(2) A description of the plot from which the remains were removed; and
(3) The location where the remains are reinterred, if known; and
(b) Provide a copy of any such record described in paragraph (a) to a local health officer, county coroner or the Nevada Funeral and Cemetery Services Board upon request.
7. The provisions of this section do not apply to:
(a) The disinterment and removal of human remains:
(1) Interred in a burial plot that is owned in fee simple by a person other than the cemetery authority; or
(2) By a cemetery authority if the cemetery authority is acting at the direction of a:
(I) Person to whom a permit for disinterment has been issued pursuant to NRS 451.045 ;
(II) County coroner, in the performance of his or her official duties; or
(III) Person who is authorized to order the burial or cremation of human remains pursuant to NRS 451.024 ;
(b) Any area within a cemetery that contains a historical marker or is designated as a historical site, including, without limitation, any tomb, monument, gravestone or other structure marked as historical or located on land designated as part of a historical site; or
(c) A historic cemetery owned or operated by a county.
8. As used in this section, historic has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 381.195 .
Source: NV Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-451.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026