Bill Text: CA AB1644 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Veterans' remains.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 15-5)

Status: (Passed) 2010-08-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 189, Statutes of 2010. [AB1644 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1644-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1644	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 6, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 11, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nielsen
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Conway, Gilmore, Harkey, and Norby)
   (Coauthors: Senators Cox, Maldonado, and Runner)

                        JANUARY 12, 2010

   An act to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 7250) to
Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to cremated
remains.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1644, as amended, Nielsen. Veterans' remains.
   Existing law regulates the custody, control, and interment of
human remains.
   This bill would allow prescribed entities in possession of the
cremated remains of a veteran, upon the request of a veterans'
service organization, as defined, to release specified information
and remains to a veterans' service organization if certain conditions
are met. The bill would require the veterans' service organization
to take all reasonable steps to inter remains received. The bill
would also exempt from civil liability  , except for willful or
wanton misconduct,  an entity that releases information or
remains after meeting the specified conditions and exempt from
negligence a veterans' service organization that receives and inters
remains if the veterans' service organization does not know or have
reason to know that the remains were not released in compliance with
the above conditions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 7250) is added to
Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 4.5.  CREMATED REMAINS OF VETERANS


   7250.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (a) "Information" means the data required by the Department of
Veterans Affairs to verify the status of a person 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) "Veteran" shall have the same meaning as it is defined in
Section 940 of the Military and Veterans Code.
   (c) "Veterans' service organization" means an association or other
entity organized for the benefit of veterans that has been
recognized or chartered by the United States Congress, including, but
not limited to, the Disabled American Veterans,  the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Legion of Honor,
and the Vietnam Veterans of America. The term also includes a member
or employee of an eligible nonprofit veterans' corporation,
association, or entity that specifically deals with verification and
veterans' burials.
   7251.  (a) A cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or
association, or other entity in possession of the cremated remains
shall, upon request of a veterans' service organization, release to a
veterans' service organization information required to verify a
person's status as a veteran or the dependent of a veteran. The
entity may release the remains to the veterans' service organization
for the purpose of interment when all of the following conditions
have been met:
   (1) The veterans' service organization has verified that the
person is a veteran or the dependent of a veteran, eligible for
burial in a national or state cemetery.
   (2) The entity  or a veterans' service organization  has
made a reasonable effort to locate the agent or family member who has
the right to control the remains.
   (3) An agent or family member who has the right to control the
remains has made no attempt to claim the remains.
   (4) The remains have been in the entity's possession for a period
of at least one year.
   (b) The cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or association,
or other entity that releases the information or remains pursuant to
this section shall not be subject to civil liability  , except
for willful or wanton misconduct,  if the conditions of this
section are met.
   7252.  (a) A veterans' service organization shall take all
reasonable steps to inter remains received pursuant to this chapter.
   (b) A veterans' service organization that receives and inters
remains pursuant to this chapter shall not be liable for negligence
if the veterans' service organization does not know or have reason to
know that the remains were not released in compliance with Section
7251.