Bill Text: NJ A1898 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Extends burial of indigent veterans to those who did not serve in time of war; clarifies role of DMVA in identifying deceased veterans; provides additional funding, subject to availability, for burial of indigent veterans.*
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-3)
Status: (Passed) 2014-01-17 - Approved P.L.2013, c.238. [A1898 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A1898-Amended.html
ASSEMBLY, No. 1898
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MATTHEW W. MILAM
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Coughlin, Amodeo, C.A.Brown and Johnson
SYNOPSIS
Extends burial of indigent veterans to those who did not serve in time of war; clarifies role of DMVA in identifying deceased veterans; provides additional funding for burial of indigent veterans.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on February 7, 2013, with amendments.
An Act concerning the burial of indigent veterans, amending R.S.38:17-1, R.S.38:17-3 and R.S.38:17-4, and supplementing chapter 17 of Title 38 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.38:17-1 is amended to read as follows:
38:17-1. The board of chosen freeholders in each of the counties shall designate a proper authority, other than that designated by law for the care of paupers and the custody of criminals, who shall cause to be interred the bodies of all honorably discharged [soldiers, sailors, marines or nurses who served, or shall have served, in the Army or Navy of the United States in time of emergency, or during any war in which the United States has been engaged, is engaged or shall be engaged] veterans of the United States Armed Forces, including the bodies of all honorably discharged members of the American Merchant Marine who served during World War II and have been declared by the United States Department of Defense to be eligible for federal veterans' benefits, who [shall] die without leaving means sufficient to defray funeral expenses. The expense of such funeral shall not exceed in any case the sum of [$250.00] $1,250 for burial or cremation.
[Such authority shall also, upon application by an interested party, cause to be interred the bodies of members of the Armed Forces of the United States who died in active service during the second World War, or in time of emergency. The expense of such interment shall not in any case exceed the sum of $50.00.
As used in this act the term "in time of emergency" shall mean and include any time (a) after June 23, 1950, and prior to January 31, 1955, and (b) during the period in which warlike conditions exist in the southeast Asia area commencing as of January 1, 1961 and terminating on May 7, 1975.
For the purposes of this act active service in the "southeast Asia area" means and includes such service in any area in southeast Asia in which armed conflict or warlike conditions exist as determined by the President and includes not only land based service in said area but also service in said area with the United States Navy and Air Force regardless of where the individual's ship or unit is based.]
(cf: P.L.1991, c.389, s.11)
2. (New section) The county medical examiner, or a designee, shall be responsible for the positive identification of 1[the] an1 unidentified indigent deceased person. The supervisor of veterans' interment or county medical examiner, as appropriate, shall contact the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs upon receipt of an unclaimed indigent deceased person to ascertain whether or not that person was a veteran. The 1[department shall respond within 24 hours, if possible, but in no case more than 72 hours with] supervisor of veterans' interment or county medical examiner, as appropriate, shall be notified upon determination of1 the veteran status of the person. If the person was a veteran, the supervisor of veterans' interment or county medical examiner, as appropriate, shall cause burial or cremation to occur within 72 hours of notification of veteran status.
3. R.S.38:17-3 is amended to read as follows:
38:17-3. Any interment provided for by sections 38:17-1 to 38:17-8 of this title shall not be made in any cemetery or plot used exclusively for the burial of pauper dead , but may be made in a county veterans' cemetery or, if appropriate, the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans' Memorial Cemetery. The graves of any such deceased veterans may be marked by a headstone containing the name of the deceased and, if possible, the organization to which he belonged or in which he served. Such headstone [shall cost not more than fifty dollars and] shall be of such design and materials as shall be approved by the governor, adjutant general and quartermaster general.
(cf: R.S.38:17-3)
4. R.S.38:17-4 is amended to read as follows:
38:17-4. The expense of the burial or cremation and headstone shall be borne and paid by the county in which the deceased shall be resident at the time of [his] death , up to a cost of $250. The State shall provide additional funds for such expenses, if necessary, through an annual appropriation. The total cost shall not exceed $1,250 for burial or cremation.
If in any county there is located a home or other institution for the use, care, shelter and maintenance of such veterans not supported by the county, such county shall not be liable for the burial or cremation expenses and headstones of the deceased, unless the deceased was a bona fide resident of such county at the time of his admission to such home or institution, but the county in which he was resident at the time of his admission to such home or institution shall defray, bear and pay the cost of such burial or cremation and headstones.
(cf: R.S.38:17-4)
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
