Chapter 157

157.06(22m)(am)7. 7. Cosmetic restoration will be done to the decedent’s body, if appropriate.

157.06(22m)(b) (b) A coroner or medical examiner who releases, and permits the removal of a part under this subsection shall maintain a permanent record of the name of the decedent, the name of the person making the request, the date and purpose of the request, the part requested, and the name of the person to whom it was released.

157.06(23m) (23m) Authorization by coroner or medical examiner; potential donations of organs and tissue.

157.06(23m)(a) (a) Subject to par. (b), for a decedent who meets the criteria for a determination of death under s. 146.71, who is a donor, and who is within the jurisdiction of a coroner or medical examiner under ch. 979, any vascularized organ that is the subject of an anatomical gift may be removed by a physician, within a time period compatible with preservation of the organ for purposes of transplantation or therapy, if all of the following take place:

157.06(23m)(a)1. 1. Immediately after the hospital in which the donor or potential donor is located contacts the organ procurement organization designated for the region of which the hospital is a part concerning the potential donation, the organ procurement organization shall, by oral conversation, provide notice to the coroner or medical examiner or his or her designee of the referral of the donor or potential donor and shall provide notice of the referral to the district attorney or his or her designee.

157.06(23m)(a)2. 2. The coroner or medical examiner or his or her designee has the opportunity to be present during the scheduled removal of the vascularized organ if, in the judgment of the coroner, medical examiner, or designee, the organ may be necessary in determining the cause of death.

157.06(23m)(b) (b) If, in the judgment of the coroner, medical examiner, or designee specified in par. (a) the vascularized organ may be necessary in determining the cause of death, the coroner, medical examiner, or designee may order a biopsy of the vascularized organ or, if the coroner, medical examiner, or designee is present during the scheduled removal, he or she may deny removal of the vascularized organ. If denial of removal is a possibility, the organ procurement organization shall make a good faith effort to consult with a forensic pathologist designated by the coroner, medical examiner, or designee as to the pathologist’s opinion concerning the necessity of the vascularized organ in determining the cause of death. If the biopsy is ordered or the removal is denied, the coroner, medical examiner, or designee shall specify, in writing as part of any death report required under ch. 979, any reasons for determining that the vascularized organ may be involved in the cause of death.

157.06(23m)(c) (c) For a decedent specified under par. (a), as authorized under the requirements of this section by the coroner, medical examiner, or designee with jurisdiction over the decedent, any part other than a vascularized organ that is a subject of an anatomical gift may be removed by a physician and any part that is tissue or bone may be removed by a technician or tissue bank employee, within a time period compatible with preservation of the part for purposes of transplantation or therapy.

157.06(23m)(d) (d) A physician, technician, or tissue bank employee who removes cardiovascular tissue from a decedent under this subsection shall, upon request of the coroner or medical examiner, file with the coroner or medical examiner with jurisdiction over the decedent a report detailing the condition of the cardiovascular tissue and its relationship to the cause of death. The report may include a biopsy or medically approved sample, if available, from the part.

157.06(23m)(e) (e)

157.06(23m)(e)1. 1. A physician who removes an organ from a decedent under this subsection shall complete a form, as specified in sub. (26m) (a).

157.06(23m)(e)2. 2. A physician, technician, or tissue bank employee who removes tissue, other than cardiovascular tissue, from a decedent under this subsection shall complete a form, as specified in sub. (26m) (b).

157.06(23m)(e)3. 3. After completing a form under this paragraph, the physician, technician, or tissue bank employee shall transmit the form to the coroner or medical examiner with jurisdiction over the decedent.

157.06(24m) (24m) Authorization by coroner or medical examiner; tissue banks.

157.06(24m)(a) (a)

157.06(24m)(a)1. 1. If a decedent is within the custody of a coroner or medical examiner, and the death occurred in a hospital, any release of the decedent for potential donation of tissue shall be to the tissue bank with which the hospital has an agreement under sub. (14m) (a) 2. However, if such a tissue bank is unwilling to receive the tissue donation, the tissue bank shall so notify the coroner or medical examiner.

157.06(24m)(a)2. 2. Upon receipt of a notification under subd. 1., the coroner or medical examiner may notify any other tissue bank with which the coroner or medical examiner has an agreement under par. (b) of the availability of the decedent as a potential tissue donor.

157.06(24m)(a)3. 3. Upon receipt of a notification under subd. 2., the tissue bank so notified, if willing to receive the tissue donation, shall contact a reasonably available person, under the priority established in sub. (9), to request that the person make an anatomical gift of all or a part of the decedent’s tissue.

157.06(24m)(a)4. 4. If the coroner or medical examiner informs the hospital that subds. 2. and 3. apply and that consent has been given for an anatomical gift, the hospital shall transfer the decedent to the coroner or medical examiner.

157.06(24m)(b) (b) When a decedent is within the custody of a coroner or medical examiner, the death occurred outside a hospital or the decedent was transferred to the coroner or medical examiner under par. (a) 4., and the coroner or medical examiner refers the decedent as a potential tissue donor, any such referral shall be made under the following conditions:

157.06(24m)(b)1. 1. Subject to subds. 2., 3., and 4., the coroner or medical examiner, after considering a tissue bank’s history, services, traditional referral patterns, geographic service area, and tissue distribution record and any other criteria required for consideration by the corporation counsel of the applicable county, enters into a written, general referral agreement with one or more tissue banks to which the coroner or medical examiner shall refer decedents for potential donation of tissue.

157.06(24m)(b)2. 2. Any agreement under subd. 1. is subject to review and approval by all of the following:

157.06(24m)(b)2.a. a. The corporation counsel of the applicable county.

157.06(24m)(b)2.b. b. The county board of the applicable county. Within 60 days after any approval by the corporation counsel and transmittal of the agreement to the county board, the county board may approve or disapprove the agreement. If the county board takes no action, the agreement is approved.

157.06(24m)(b)3. 3. A tissue bank under this paragraph is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks or audited at least once every 2 years by an organization that is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks.

157.06(24m)(b)4. 4. All of the following applies to an agreement by a coroner or medical examiner with one or more tissue banks to which the coroner or medical examiner refers decedents for potential donation of tissue:

157.06(24m)(b)4.a. a. Any such agreement that is entered into after April 13, 2006, shall conform to the requirements of subds. 1. to 3.

157.06(24m)(b)4.b. b. Any such agreement that exists on April 13, 2006, shall conform to the requirements of subds. 1. to 3. by October 1, 2007, unless the agreement expires before that date and is not renegotiated or renewed under subd. 4. a.

157.06(25m) (25m) Consent for or limitation on certain uses of bones or tissue; requirements.

157.06(25m)(a) (a) A hospital, organ procurement organization, tissue bank, coroner, or medical examiner that provides a record of gift to a person who may make an anatomical gift under sub. (4) or (9) shall include in the record of gift the following sentences: “I understand that donated bones or tissues, including skin, may have numerous uses, including for reconstructive and cosmetic purposes, and that multiple organizations, including nonprofit and for-profit organizations, may recover, process, or distribute the donations. I further understand that I may, by this record, limit the use of the bones or tissues, including skin, that are donated or types of organizations that recover, process, or distribute the donation.”

157.06(25m)(b) (b) The record of gift under par. (a) shall include, following the 2nd sentence required in par. (a), all of the following:

157.06(25m)(b)1. 1. A line or space for the person who may make an anatomical gift to sign to acknowledge that he or she has read the sentences specified in par. (a) or that the sentences have been read aloud to him or her. Except in cases in which an anatomical gift is executed by means that do not require the person making the anatomical gift to sign a record of gift, failure of the person making the anatomical gift to sign in the line or space is a refusal to make or an objection to making an anatomical gift of bones or tissues.

157.06(25m)(b)2. 2. A line or space for the person making the anatomical gift to sign and specify a limitation, if any, on the use of bones or tissues or on the types of organizations that recover, process, or distribute the donation.

157.06(25m)(c) (c) If a person makes an anatomical gift in the manner provided in sub. (10) (a) 2. or 3., the individual receiving the oral communication shall read aloud to the person the sentences required under par. (a). If the anatomical gift is made in the manner provided in sub. (10) (a) 3., the individual who reduces the anatomical gift to a record shall note on the record that the person making the anatomical gift has been read the sentences required under par. (a) and note any limitations that the person making the anatomical gift imposes on the use of any bones or tissues that are the subject of the anatomical gift or any limitations on the types of organizations that recover, process, or distribute such bones or tissues.

157.06(25m)(d) (d) If a person who may make an anatomical gift under sub. (4) or (9) makes an anatomical gift under this subsection, the hospital, organ procurement organization, tissue bank, coroner, or medical examiner that provides to the person a record of gift under par. (a) shall also provide the person with the telephone number and address of the agency or organization that recovers the anatomical gift.

157.06(25m)(e) (e) The requester under par. (a) shall provide the person who may make an anatomical gift under sub. (4) or (9) with a copy of any record of gift executed under the requirements of this subsection.

157.06(26m) (26m) Forms for removal of organs and certain tissues; rules. The department of health services shall promulgate rules prescribing all of the following:

157.06(26m)(a) (a) A form for removal of organs for use under sub. (23m) (e) 1. and 3.

157.06(26m)(b) (b) A form for removal of tissue, other than cardiovascular tissue, for use under sub. (23m) (e) 2. and 3.

157.06(27m) (27m) Penalty. Whoever fails to comply with the requirement to provide sentences under sub. (25m) (a) or (c) may be subject to a forfeiture of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each violation.

157.06(28m) (28m) Effect of prior document of gift. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, a document of gift that was made under the requirements of s. 157.06, 1987 stats., or s. 157.06, 2005 stats., is deemed to comply with the requirements of this section.

157.06 History History: 1971 c. 40 s. 93; 1971 c. 213 s. 5; 1977 c. 46, 124; 1979 c. 175 s. 53; 1979 c. 221 s. 2202 (45); 1981 c. 20, 290; 1983 a. 485; 1985 a. 286, 315; 1985 a. 316 s. 14; Stats. 1985 s. 157.06; 1989 a. 105; 1989 a. 298 ss. 3, 10m, 11m; 1991 a. 32; 1995 a. 27 s. 9126 (19); 1997 a. 52, 206, 305; 1999 a. 83; 2001 a. 103; 2005 a. 229, 230; 2007 a. 20 s. 9121 (6) (a); 2007 a. 106; 2009 a. 28, 177, 180; 2011 a. 258; 2011 a. 260 s. 81; 2013 a. 151 s. 28; 2015 a. 195 s. 83; 2017 a. 12; 2021 a. 113, 220; 2023 a. 178, 187.

157.06 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ch. DHS 137, Wis. adm. code.

157.06 Annotation Chapters 69 and 157 are not alternatives to the requirement in s. 979.10 that anyone cremating a corpse must first obtain a cremation permit from the coroner. University medical schools or anyone else qualified to receive a corpse can receive a corpse for research without first obtaining a permit. 77 Atty. Gen. 218.

subch. II of ch. 157 SUBCHAPTER II

CEMETERIES

157.061 157.061 Definitions. Except as otherwise provided, in this subchapter:

157.061(1) (1) “Burial” means entombment, inurnment or interment.

157.061(1g) (1g) “Business day” has the meaning given in s. 421.301 (6).

157.061(1m) (1m) “Care fund” means one or more accounts or other investments established for the care of a cemetery.

157.061(1p) (1p) “Cemetery” means any land, including any mausoleum on the land, that is used or intended to be used, exclusively for the burial of human remains.

157.061(1r) (1r) “Cemetery association” means an association formed under s. 157.062.

157.061(2) (2) “Cemetery authority” means any person who owns or operates a cemetery specified in s. 157.065 (1).

157.061(2g) (2g) “Cemetery board” means the board created in s. 15.405 (3m).

157.061(2m) (2m) “Cemetery lot” means a grave or 2 or more contiguous graves and, when used in reference to the sale, purchase or ownership of a cemetery lot, includes the right to bury human remains in that cemetery lot.

157.061(3) (3) “Cemetery services and merchandise” means goods associated with the burial of human remains, including monuments, markers, nameplates, vases, and urns, and any services that are associated with supplying or delivering those goods or with the burial of human remains, including the burial or entombment, and that may be lawfully provided by a cemetery authority. The term does not include caskets or outer burial containers.

157.061(4) (4) “Dedicated” means platted as a cemetery.

157.061(7m) (7m) “Grave” means a piece of land that is used or intended to be used for an underground burial of human remains, other than a burial in an underground mausoleum space.

157.061(8) (8) “Human remains” means the body of a deceased individual that is in any stage of decomposition or has been cremated.

157.061(9) (9) “Mausoleum” means a building, structure or part of a building or structure that is used or intended to be used for the burial of human remains.

157.061(10) (10) “Mausoleum space” means a niche, crypt or specific place in a mausoleum that contains or is intended to contain human remains.

157.061(11) (11) “Municipality” means town, village or city.

157.061(11g) (11g) “Outer burial container” means any container that is placed or intended to be placed into the burial excavation of a grave and into which a casket is placed or intended to be placed at the time of burial.

157.061(11r) (11r) “Payment of principal” means the portion of a payment for the purchase of a cemetery lot, cemetery services and merchandise, or a mausoleum space that represents the principal amount owed by the purchaser for the cemetery lot, cemetery services and merchandise, or mausoleum space, and does not include any portion of the payment that represents any taxes, finance or interest charges, administrative fees, or insurance premiums.

157.061(12) (12) “Preneed sales contract” means an agreement for the sale of cemetery services and merchandise that is to be delivered after the date of the initial payment for the cemetery services and merchandise, or for the sale of an undeveloped space.

157.061(13) (13) “Preneed trust fund” means an account or other investment in which a portion of the cemetery services and merchandise received under a preneed sales contract is deposited.

157.061(13m) (13m) “Professional land surveyor” means a professional land surveyor licensed under ch. 443.

157.061(14) (14) “Public mausoleum” means a mausoleum in which at least one mausoleum space is offered for sale to the general public.

157.061(15) (15) “Religious association” means any church, synagogue, or mosque; any religious society organized under ch. 187; and any corporation whose articles of organization provide, subject to s. 182.030, that it shall be under the supervision and control of a church, synagogue, mosque, or religious society.

157.061(16) (16) “Sale” means a transfer for consideration of any interest in ownership, title or right to use.

157.061(17) (17) “Undeveloped space” means a mausoleum space that is not ready for the burial of human remains on the date of the sale of the mausoleum space.

157.061 History History: 1983 a. 189; 1985 a. 316 s. 18; Stats. 1985 s. 157.061; 1989 a. 307; 1991 a. 269; 1997 a. 188; 1999 a. 32; 2005 a. 25; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 358; 2015 a. 237; 2017 a. 365 s. 110.

157.062 157.062 Cemetery associations; creation; powers and duties.

157.062(1) (1) Organization. Seven or more residents of the same county may form a cemetery association. They shall meet, select a chairperson and secretary, choose a name, fix the annual meeting date, and elect by ballot not less than 3 nor more than 9 trustees whom the chairperson and secretary shall immediately divide by lot into 3 classes, who shall hold their offices for 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Within 3 days, the chairperson and secretary shall certify the corporate name, the names, home addresses, and business addresses of the organizers and of the trustees, and their classification, and the annual meeting date acknowledged by them, and, except as provided in sub. (9), deliver the certification to the cemetery board. The association then has the powers of a corporation.

157.062(2) (2) Amendments. The association may change its name, the number of trustees, or the annual meeting date by resolution at an annual meeting, or special meeting called for such purpose, by a majority vote of the members present, and, except as provided in sub. (9), by delivering to the cemetery board a copy of the resolution, with the date of adoption, certified by the president and secretary or corresponding officers.

157.062(3) (3) Validation. When there shall have been a bona fide attempt to organize a cemetery association, but a failure to record a properly drawn and executed certificate of organization, and it has in good faith bought and platted grounds and conveyed cemetery lots and carried on business for over 25 years, the same shall be a body corporate from the date of conveyance to it of real estate, and its transfers and other transactions are validated.

157.062(4) (4) Meetings; elections.

157.062(4)(a) (a) An annual election shall be held during the annual meeting. The annual meeting, and any special meeting described in sub. (2), shall be held at a place in the county chosen by the trustees upon public notice as required by the bylaws. Trustees chosen after the first election shall be proprietors of cemetery lots in the cemetery, residents of the state, and hold office for 3 years. Election shall be by ballot and a plurality shall elect. Each owner of one or more cemetery lots is entitled to one vote, and one of several owners of a cemetery lot, designated by the majority of them, shall cast the vote.

157.062(4)(b) (b) If the annual election is not held on the day fixed for the annual meeting, the trustees may appoint another day, not more than 60 days after the annual meeting, and give public notice of time and place, and if an election is not so held 5 members may apply to the judge of a court of record in the county for an order granting power to hold an election, by publishing in the county a class 2 notice, under ch. 985, of the application and the judge shall grant the application, and election shall then be held upon like notice. The terms of trustees expire on the date of the annual meeting in the year in which they are scheduled to expire, except that if no election is held at the annual meeting the terms expire on the date of the next election held under this paragraph.

157.062(5) (5) Trustees; duties, report. The trustees may fill vacancies for the unexpired term. One shall be chosen president, and they shall appoint a secretary and treasurer, and may require security of the treasurer. The trustees shall manage the affairs and property of the association and control and beautify the cemetery, and may establish regulations for those purposes. The trustees shall make and file written reports as required in s. 157.62 (1) and (2).

157.062(6) (6) Dissolution; reorganization.

157.062(6)(a) (a) The association is dissolved by failure to hold an annual election for 3 successive years.

157.062(6)(b) (b) If an association that has been dissolved under par. (a), or any group that was never properly organized as a cemetery association, has cemetery grounds and human remains are buried in the cemetery grounds, 5 or more members, or persons interested as determined by order of the circuit judge under par. (c), may publish a class 3 notice, under ch. 985, in the municipality in which the cemetery is located, of the time, place, and object of the meeting, assemble and reorganize by the election of trustees and divide them into classes as provided in sub. (1), the commencement of the terms to be computed from the next annual meeting date. The secretary shall enter the proceedings of the meeting on the records. The association is reorganized upon delivery of a copy of the proceedings to the cemetery board, except as provided in sub. (9). Upon reorganization, the title to the cemetery grounds, trust funds, and all other property of the association or group vests in the reorganized association, under the control of the trustees. The reorganized association may continue the name of the dissolved association or may adopt a new name.

157.062(6)(c) (c) If an association is dissolved under par. (a) or any group has never been properly organized as cemetery association, and there are fewer than 5 members living or residing in the county where the cemetery is located, the circuit judge for the county shall upon the petition of any person interested, make an order determining who are persons interested in the cemetery. Any adult person who owns an interest in any cemetery lot in the cemetery, who is related to any person buried in the cemetery, or who is a descendant, brother, sister, nephew, niece or surviving spouse of a member of the dissolved association, is an interested person. The circuit judge may make the order upon evidence he or she deems sufficient, with or without hearing. The order need not contain the names of all persons interested, but shall contain the names of at least 5 such persons.

157.062(6m) (6m) Forms. The cemetery board may prescribe and furnish forms for providing the information required under subs. (1) to (6).

157.062(7) (7) Tax for maintenance. When a cemetery association having control of a cemetery in a town, village or city of the third or fourth class has insufficient maintenance funds it may certify in writing to the clerk of such town, city or village the amount deemed necessary during the next ensuing year, the amount the association has therefor, and the deficiency, and the governing body of such town, city or village may levy and collect a tax therefor and pay the same to the association. If the cemetery is in more than one such municipality the deficiency shall be equitably distributed. If a cemetery located wholly within a town, village or city of the third or fourth class has also buried therein decedents from an adjoining municipality, the association having insufficient funds, the association may certify in writing to its municipal clerk and to the clerk of such other municipality, the amount deemed necessary for the ensuing year, the amount the association has therefor, the amount of the deficiency and the equitable amount that each municipality should contribute; whereupon the governing body of each such municipality may levy and collect a tax therefor and pay the same to the association.

157.062(8) (8) Limited liability of trustees and officers.

157.062(8)(a) (a) Except as provided in pars. (b) to (d), a trustee or officer of a cemetery association organized under this section is not liable to the association, its members or creditors, or any person asserting rights on behalf of the association, its members or creditors, or any other person, for damages, settlements, fees, fines, penalties or other monetary liabilities arising from a breach of, or failure to perform, any duty resulting solely from his or her status as a trustee or officer, unless the person asserting liability proves that the breach or failure to perform constitutes any of the following:

157.062(8)(a)1. 1. A willful failure to deal fairly with the association or its members in connection with a matter in which the trustee or officer has a material conflict of interest.