BILL NUMBER: AB 1644 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 189
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 27, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 27, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 5, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 11, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nielsen
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Arambula)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Conway, DeVore, Fletcher, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Ma,
Niello, and Norby)
(Coauthors: Senators Aanestad, Cox, Denham, Maldonado, and Runner)
JANUARY 12, 2010
An act to amend Section 942 of, and to add Sections 951, 952, 953,
and 954 to, the Military and Veterans Code, relating to veterans.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1644, 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'
remains organization, as defined, to release specified information
and remains to a veterans' remains organization for the purpose of
interment if certain conditions are met. The bill would require the
veterans' remains 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' remains organization that receives
and inters remains if the veterans' remains organization does not
know or have reason to know that the remains were not released in
compliance with the above conditions.
Existing law requires the board of supervisors of each county to
designate an honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine in the
county who has served in or with the army or navy of the United
States, and shall cause to be decently interred the body of any
veteran or widow of a veteran who dies in the county without having
sufficient means to defray the expenses of burial, except as
otherwise provided.
This bill would require the board of supervisors of each county to
designate an honorably discharged veteran of the United States
military or a member of a veterans' remains organization 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 bill would encourage the board of supervisors of
each county to designate personnel from a veterans' remains
organization for that purpose. This bill would also require the
specified entities to verify and inter unclaimed cremated remains of
veterans in accordance with specified laws.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The heading of Article 2 (commencing with Section 940)
of Chapter 5 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code is
amended to read:
Article 2. Burial of Veterans and Veterans' Dependents
SEC. 2. Section 942 of the Military and Veterans Code is amended
to read:
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.
SEC. 3. Section 951 is added to the Military and Veterans Code, to
read:
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.
SEC. 4. Section 952 is added to the Military and Veterans Code, to
read:
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.
SEC. 5. Section 953 is added to the Military and Veterans Code, to
read:
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.
SEC. 6. Section 954 is added to the Military and Veterans Code, to
read:
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.