940-954
MILITARY AND VETERANS CODE
SECTION 940-954
940. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise
indicates, "veteran" means a person honorably discharged from the
armed forces of the United States, including, but not limited to, the
Philippine Commonwealth Army, the Regular Scouts ("Old Scouts"), and
the Special Philippine Scouts ("New Scouts").
940.5. As used in this article, the terms "burial" and "interment"
include cremation, except that the election of the form of interment
as between burial and cremation shall be made pursuant to the first
paragraph of Section 7100 of the Health and Safety Code.
941. This article shall not apply to soldiers, sailors, or marines
who die in the national or State soldiers' homes in this State.
942. The board of supervisors of each county shall designate an
honorably discharged veteran of the United States military or a
member of a veterans' remains organization, as defined in Section
951, who shall cause to be decently interred the body of any veteran
or spouse or eligible dependent of a veteran as defined by the United
States Department of Veterans Affairs for compensation purposes who
dies in the county. This section shall apply to all indigent,
abandoned, or unclaimed veterans and dependents of veterans,
including those deceased veterans and dependents of veterans without
sufficient means to defray the expenses of burial, other than moneys
paid or due and payable by the United States, pursuant to the World
War Adjusted Compensation Act.
943. Such burial shall not be made in any cemetery or burial
ground, or any portion thereof, used exclusively for the burial of
the pauper dead.
944. In the event a deceased veteran or a widow of a veteran has
been interred other than by the person designated by the board of
supervisors, the person so designated may pay the sum of three
hundred fifty dollars ($350) toward the burial expenses of the person
who would have been entitled to interment by the person designated
by the supervisors.
945. The expenses to the county of each burial or contribution
shall not exceed the sum of three hundred fifty dollars ($350).
Claims therefor are governed by Part 3 (commencing with Section 900)
and Part 4 (commencing with Section 940) of Division 3.6 of Title 1
of the Government Code.
946. Such claims shall be paid by the county in which the veteran
or widow dies. If the decedent was a resident of any other county
than the one paying the claim, the county of the decedent's residence
shall refund the money advanced by the county where such person
died. Such claims shall be audited and paid by the county as other
accounts.
947. The person appointed under section 942, before he assumes the
charge and expenses of any burial, shall first satisfy himself by a
careful inquiry into and examination of all the circumstances in the
case that the family of the decedent, if any, residing in the county,
is unable for want of means to defray the expenses of the burial. If
he finds such inability he shall cause the decedent to be buried as
provided in this article. He shall immediately report his action to
the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county, stating all the
facts and that he found the family of the decedent in indigent
circumstances and unable to pay the expenses of the burial. He shall
also report the name, rank, and command of the veteran, the date of
death, place of burial, occupation, and an itemized statement of the
expenses of such burial.
948. The clerk of the board of supervisors, upon receiving the
report and statement of expenses, shall transcribe in a book kept for
that purpose all the facts contained in the report respecting such
decedent. The clerk, upon the burial of any honorably discharged
soldier, sailor, or marine, shall make application to the proper
authorities of the United States, for a suitable headstone, as
provided by act of Congress, and cause the same to be placed at the
head of the grave of such soldier, sailor, or marine. The expenses
shall not exceed ten dollars ($10) for cartage and properly setting
each stone.
949. The board of supervisors shall perpetually maintain the grave
of any such honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine. The
expenses thus incurred shall be audited and paid as provided in
section 946 for burial expenses.
950. The person appointed under section 942 shall receive no
compensation for any duties he may perform in compliance with this
article.
951. (a) "Veteran status information" means the data required by
the Department of Veterans Affairs to verify the status of a decedent
as either a veteran or the dependent of a veteran for purposes of
eligibility for burial in a national or state cemetery, including the
person's name, service number, social security number, date of
birth, date of death, place of birth, branch of the service, and
military rank.
(b) "Veterans' remains organization" means any entity recognized
by the Veterans Administration and the National Personnel Records
Center as an organization authorized to verify and inter unclaimed
cremated remains of American veterans, including a member or employee
of that entity.
952. (a) A cemetery corporation or association, or other entity in
possession of the cremated remains of a veteran or dependent of a
veteran, shall, upon request of a veterans' remains organization and
after verifying the status of the veterans' remains organization as
an organization currently authorized by the Veterans Administration
and the National Personnel Records Center or as an organization
authorized by the local county board of supervisors to verify and
inter unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans, release
veteran status information to the veterans' remains organization.
(b) The use or disclosure of veteran status information obtained
by a veterans' remains organization pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be permitted only for the purpose of verifying veteran interment
benefits of the deceased veteran or a dependent of a veteran with the
Department of Veterans Affairs and shall not be used or disclosed
for any other purpose.
(c) The cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or association,
or other entity in possession of the cremated remains of a veteran or
dependent of a veteran may, upon request of a veterans' remains
organization and after verifying the status of the veterans' remains
organization as an organization currently authorized by the Veterans
Administration and the National Personnel Records Center or as an
organization authorized by the local county board of supervisors to
verify and inter unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans,
release the cremated remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran
to a veterans' remains organization for the sole purpose of
interment, subject to Section 943 and Sections 7110 and 7208 of the
Health and Safety Code, when all of the following conditions have
been met:
(1) The veterans' remains organization has verified the interment
benefits of the deceased veteran or dependent of a veteran with the
Department of Veterans Affairs and provided documentation of the
verification to the cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or
association, or other entity that the decedent is a veteran or a
dependent of a veteran eligible for burial in a national or state
cemetery.
(2) The veterans' remains organization has made a reasonable
effort to locate the agent or family member who has the right to
control the cremated remains of the veteran or dependent of a
veteran.
(3) The veterans' remains organization has provided notice to all
known agents or family members who have the right to control the
cremated remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran of the
veteran's remains organization's intent to claim the cremated remains
of the veteran or dependent of a veteran for the purpose of
providing a proper burial of the cremated remains of the veteran or
dependent of a veteran in accordance with Section 943 and Sections
7110 and 7208 of the Health and Safety Code.
(4) An agent or family member who has the right to control the
cremated remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran has made no
attempt to claim the cremated remains.
(5) The cremated remains have been in the possession of the
cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or association, or other
entity for a period of at least one year.
(d) The cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or association,
or other entity that releases veteran status information or cremated
remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran pursuant to this
section shall not be subject to civil liability, except for gross
negligence, if all of the conditions of this section are met.
953. (a) A veterans' remains organization shall take all reasonable
steps to inter the cremated remains of a veteran or dependent of a
veteran received in accordance with this article.
(b) A veterans' remains organization that receives and inters the
cremated remains of a veteran or dependent of a veteran pursuant to
this article shall not be liable for negligence if the veterans'
remains organization does not know or have reason to know that the
cremated remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran were not
released by the cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or
association, or other entity in compliance with subdivisions (a) and
(c) of Section 952.
954. The board of supervisors of each county is encouraged to
designate personnel from a veterans' remains organization, as defined
in Section 951, to fulfill the role created in Section 942.