eLaws | eCases | State of Wisconsin |
 Wisconsin Statutes (Last Updated: January 10, 2017)
 Chapter 157. Disposition Of Human Remains
 SubChapter II. CEMETERIES

  Section 157.065. Location and ownership of cemeteries.  

Latest version.
  •  
    (1)  No cemetery may be used for burials except any of the following:
    (a) A cemetery in use on April 4, 1864.
    (b) A cemetery organized and operated by any of the following:
    1. A municipality.
    2. A religious association.
    3. A fraternal or benevolent society.
    4. An incorporated college of a religious order.
    5. A cemetery association created under s. 157.062 .
    6. A corporation organized under ch. 180 or 181 .
    7. A limited liability company organized under ch. 183 .
    (2)  
    (a) Except as provided in sub. (3) , no cemetery may be established:
    1. Within a recorded plat or recorded addition to a plat of any city or village, if the cemetery is within one mile of a building in the plat;
    2. Outside a recorded plat or recorded addition to a plat of any city or village if the cemetery is within 3,300 feet of an inhabited dwelling that is located within a recorded plat or addition, unless the city or village consents;
    3. Within 250 feet of any habitable dwelling, publicly owned building or school, unless the cemetery is establishing an extension on property it has owned continually since June 18, 1929; or
    4. Within 3,300 feet of any of the following state facilities, without the consent of the state:
    a. Any institution for the deaf or the blind;
    b. Any mental health institute, as defined in s. 51.01 ;
    c. A Type 1 juvenile correctional facility, as defined in s. 938.02 (19) ;
    d. Any center for the developmentally disabled; or
    e. Any state reformatory.
    (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to enlargements under sub. (3m) or s. 157.064 (2) or (3) .
    (3)  
    (a) Any incorporated college of a religious order in a 4th class city may establish a private cemetery within the city on land the college owns to bury members of the religious order, if the common council consents and if each person owning a private building within 825 feet of the proposed cemetery consents.
    (b) Any private military academy that provides an educational program for grades 7 to 12 in a 4th class city may establish a private cemetery within the city on land that the military academy owns, if the common council consents. No mausoleum within a cemetery established under this paragraph may exceed 3,500 square feet in area.
    (3m)  Any of the following cemeteries may enlarge only in the following manner:
    (a) Any cemetery in a village may enlarge with the consent of the village board and of the owners of each building within 250 feet of the addition.
    (b) Any cemetery in a 3rd or 4th class city may enlarge with the consent of the common council.
    (c) Notwithstanding pars. (a) and (d) , any cemetery established before April 30, 1887, in a village and located within 100 feet of the village limits may extend to the village limits with the consent of the village board.
    (d) Notwithstanding pars. (a) to (c) , any cemetery established before April 30, 1887, may expand as provided in s. 157.064 .
    (5)  Any violation of this section is a public nuisance.