Assembly Bill No. 306–Assemblymen Andonov, Sherer, Hardy, Chowning, Geddes, Anderson, Angle, Arberry, Atkinson, Beers, Brown, Buckley, Carpenter, Christensen, Claborn, Collins, Conklin, Gibbons, Giunchigliani, Goicoechea, Goldwater, Grady, Griffin, Gustavson, Hettrick, Horne, Knecht, Koivisto, Leslie, Mabey, Manendo, Marvel, McClain, McCleary, Mortenson, Oceguera, Ohrenschall, Parks, Perkins, Pierce, Weber and Williams

 

March 13, 2003

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Joint Sponsors: Senators Raggio, Amodei, Townsend, Care, Wiener, Carlton, Cegavske, Coffin, Hardy, Mathews, McGinness, Nolan, O’Connell, Rawson, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Tiffany, Titus and Washington

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Referred to Committee on Government Affairs

 

SUMMARY—Authorizes military funeral under certain circumstances for deceased veterans whose bodies are not claimed by relatives. (BDR 37‑767)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.

                           Effect on the State: No.

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to veterans; authorizing certain veterans’ organizations to take possession of the unclaimed bodies of deceased veterans and provide for a military funeral; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

 

2-1  Section 1. NRS 417.210 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-2  417.210  1.  A veteran who is eligible for interment in a

2-3  national cemetery pursuant to the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 2402 is

2-4  eligible for interment in a veterans’ cemetery in this state.

2-5  2.  An eligible veteran, or a member of his immediate family, or

2-6  a veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive Director may

2-7  apply for a plot in a cemetery for veterans in this state by submitting

2-8  a request to the cemetery superintendent on a form to be supplied by

2-9  the cemetery superintendent. The cemetery superintendent shall

2-10  assign available plots in the order in which applications are

2-11  received. A specific plot may not be reserved before it is needed for

2-12  burial. No charge may be made for a plot or for the interment of a

2-13  veteran.

2-14      3.  One plot is allowed for the interment of each eligible veteran

2-15  and for each member of his immediate family, except where the

2-16  conditions of the soil or the number of the decedents of the family

2-17  requires more than one plot.

2-18      4.  The Executive Director shall charge a fee for the interment

2-19  of a family member, but the fee may not exceed the actual cost of

2-20  interment.

2-21      5.  As used in this section, “immediate family” means the

2-22  spouse, minor child or, when the Executive Director deems

2-23  appropriate, the unmarried adult child of an eligible veteran.

2-24      Sec. 2.  NRS 451.400 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-25      451.400  1.  All public officers, agents or employees of every

2-26  county, city or town, every person in charge of any prison, morgue,

2-27  hospital, funeral parlor or mortuary, and all other persons coming

2-28  into possession, charge or control of any dead human body which is

2-29  unclaimed or which is required to be buried at public expense are

2-30  hereby required to notify the Committee immediately, or such

2-31  person as may from time to time be designated by the Committee.

2-32      2.  [Every] Except as otherwise provided in NRS 451.420,

2-33  every such person shall, upon the request of the Committee and

2-34  without fee, deliver such a dead body to the Committee, or to such

2-35  agent, institution or person as the Committee shall designate.

2-36      Sec. 3.  NRS 451.420 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-37      451.420  1.  Notice of death [shall] must be given to the

2-38  Committee in all cases of unclaimed indigent persons. [No body

2-39  shall be delivered to the Committee if]

2-40      2.  If any relative, by blood or marriage, claims the body for

2-41  burial at the expense of [such] the relative, [but the body shall] the

2-42  body must not be delivered to the Committee, but must be

2-43  surrendered to the claimant for interment.

2-44      3.  No such body [shall] may be delivered to the Committee if

2-45  any friend of the deceased, any representative of a fraternal society

3-1  of which the deceased was a member, any representative of a

3-2  veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive Director for

3-3  Veterans’ Services, or any representative of any charitable or

3-4  religious organization claims the body for burial at its expense. [No

3-5  body shall be delivered to the Committee if]

3-6  4.  If the deceased person was an honorably discharged member

3-7  of the Armed Forces of the United States or the State [but the body

3-8  shall] , the body must not be delivered to the Committee, but must

3-9  be buried in accordance with the provisions of the existing laws. If a

3-10  veterans’ organization claims the body of a deceased veteran

3-11  pursuant to subsection 3, the veterans’ organization must provide

3-12  a military funeral.

3-13      Sec. 4.  NRS 451.430 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-14      451.430  Any dead human body which has been delivered to

3-15  the Committee may be claimed by any friend of the deceased, any

3-16  representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a

3-17  member, a veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive

3-18  Director for Veterans’ Services, or any representative of any

3-19  charitable or religious organization. Upon receipt of such a claim,

3-20  the body [shall] must be surrendered to the claimant by the

3-21  Committee after the payment to the Committee of the expenses

3-22  incurred in obtaining and handling [such] the body. If a veterans’

3-23  organization claims the body of a deceased veteran pursuant to

3-24  this section, the veterans’ service organization must provide a

3-25  military funeral.

3-26      Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

3-27  H