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

 

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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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:

 

 

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

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

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

eligible for interment in a veterans’ cemetery in this state.

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

a veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive Director may

apply for a plot in a cemetery for veterans in this state by submitting

a request to the cemetery superintendent on a form to be supplied by

the cemetery superintendent. The cemetery superintendent shall

assign available plots in the order in which applications are

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

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

veteran.

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

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

conditions of the soil or the number of the decedents of the family

requires more than one plot.

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

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

interment.

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

spouse, minor child or, when the Executive Director deems

appropriate, the unmarried adult child of an eligible veteran.

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

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

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

hospital, funeral parlor or mortuary, and all other persons coming

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

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

hereby required to notify the Committee immediately, or such

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

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

every such person shall, upon the request of the Committee and

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

agent, institution or person as the Committee shall designate.

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

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

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

shall be delivered to the Committee if]

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

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

body must not be delivered to the Committee, but must be

surrendered to the claimant for interment.

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

any friend of the deceased, any representative of a fraternal society

of which the deceased was a member, any representative of a

veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive Director for

Veterans’ Services, or any representative of any charitable or

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

body shall be delivered to the Committee if]

    4.  If the deceased person was an honorably discharged member

of the Armed Forces of the United States or the State [but the body

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

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

veterans’ organization claims the body of a deceased veteran

pursuant to subsection 3, the veterans’ organization must provide

a military funeral.

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

    451.430  Any dead human body which has been delivered to

the Committee may be claimed by any friend of the deceased, any

representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a

member, a veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive

Director for Veterans’ Services, or any representative of any

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

the body [shall] must be surrendered to the claimant by the

Committee after the payment to the Committee of the expenses

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

organization claims the body of a deceased veteran pursuant to

this section, the veterans’ service organization must provide a

military funeral.

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

 

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