HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1974
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO VETERANS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  Section 363-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§363-5  Councils' responsibility; burial of [servicemen,] service members, veterans, and dependents.  The councils of the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui shall each provide for the establishment of the veterans cemetery or cemeteries to be located within their respective counties, which includes grading, filling, leveling, platting, paving of roadways and walks, installation of curbs, building of fences, planting of grass, trees and shrubs, erection of memorial buildings and monuments, and building of other necessary or convenient structures, and shall make provisions for the maintenance and upkeep of [such] the cemetery or cemeteries.  The councils shall each provide for the interment of the remains, of:

     (1)  [residents or former residents of their respective counties] Service members who died while in the armed forces of the United States[, and];

     (2)  [of honorably discharged] Eligible veterans [of the armed forces of the United States with either peacetime or wartime service and who are residents of their respective counties at the time of death, or who were former residents, and] who entered military service after September 7, 1980, as an enlisted person, or after October 16, 1980, as an officer, and served a minimum of twenty-four continuous months or the full period for which the person was called to active duty, as in the case of a reservist;

     (3)  [of the widows, widowers, or minor children of such deceased servicemen or veterans, and] Eligible veterans who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable of the armed forces of the United States with either peacetime or wartime service; and

     (4)  [of the] The wife, husband, or minor children, and unmarried disabled adult children, who predecease a [serviceman] service member or veteran who would be [himself] entitled to interment, [provided that he must subscribe to a statement that he himself will be so] are eligible to be interred in [the same] in any state veterans cemetery[; and provided further that as to former residents, the].

The cost of transportation of the remains to the county of interment shall be borne by the family or estate of the deceased."

     SECTION 2.  Section 363-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§363-7  Burial of nonresident servicemen and dependents.  Any law to the contrary notwithstanding the remains of nonresident servicemen or nonresident honorably discharged veterans of the armed forces of the United States, and the remains of the widows, widowers, or minor children of the deceased servicemen or veterans, or the remains of the wives, husbands, or minor children who predecease the servicemen or veterans, may, at the discretion of the legislative bodies of the respective counties, be interred in the cemetery or cemeteries as established herein."]

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Armed Services; Veterans; Burial

Description:

Removes the residency requirements for the burial of members of the armed services and their dependents in veterans cemeteries.  Establishes criteria consistent with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs eligibility requirements for burial in a national cemetery.  (HB1974 HD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.