The board of county commissioners of each county may provide for the identification, cataloging, recording, and shall provide for the general maintenance and upkeep of each abandoned cemetery located within such county using revenues derived from its general fund levy authority. The board shall, at least once each year, proceed to have the weeds and grass cut, restore gravestones to their original placement, and perform any other general maintenance necessary to maintain the dignity and appearance of the grounds. For the purposes of this section, a cemetery means any tract of land used as a burial plot and which is filed with the recorder of the county as a public burying place. The board of county commissioners of each county shall provide for the registration, with the department of health and human services, of each abandoned cemetery within such county unless such cemetery has been previously registered. Such registration must take place within one year of notification being made to the board, by any interested party of the existence of such abandoned cemetery.
23-06-31. Cremation or other lawful disposition of a body - Authorization document - Immunity. 1. A legally competent adult may prepare a written statement directing the cremation or other lawful disposition of that adult's own remains pursuant to section 23-06-03. The written statement must be signed and dated by the legally competent adult and may be part of the legally competent adult's will. 2. A document that conforms to this section authorizes a crematorium or funeral establishment to carry out the instructions of the legally competent adult who is the subject of the document. It is not necessary for a crematorium or funeral establishment to obtain the consent or concurrence of any other person when the crematorium or funeral establishment cremates or otherwise provides for the lawful disposition of a body pursuant to instructions contained in a document that conforms to this section. 3. This section does not mandate that a crematorium or funeral establishment cremate or otherwise provide for the lawful disposition of a body pursuant to the document unless the legally competent adult who executed the document articulated and funded in a pre-need funeral service contract the legally competent adult's instructions as expressed in the document. 4. A crematorium or funeral establishment that cremates or otherwise provides for the lawful disposition of a body in good-faith reliance upon instructions of a decedent or an individual to whom the crematorium or funeral establishment reasonably believes is entitled to control final disposition pursuant to section 23-06-03 or on an apparently genuine document executed pursuant to this section is not subject to criminal prosecution, civil liability, or professional discipline. The decision of a crematorium or funeral establishment to cremate or otherwise provide for the lawful disposition of a
body in reliance on a document executed pursuant to this section is presumed to be made in good faith.