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Bill 3287

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      3287
Ratification Number:              69
Act Number:                       33
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 House
Introduced Date:                  20010118
Primary Sponsor:                  White
All Sponsors:                     White, Barrett, J. Brown, Cato, Clyburn, 
                                  Coates, Cobb-Hunter, Cooper, Harrell, 
                                  Harrison, Hinson, Hosey, Kelley, Klauber, 
                                  Martin, McCraw, Owens, Phillips, Rice, 
                                  Robinson, Sharpe, Sinclair, Stille, Talley, 
                                  Taylor, Thompson, Townsend, Trotter, Webb and 
                                  Wilder
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\pt\1118dw01.doc
Date Bill Passed both Bodies:     20010515
Date of Last Amendment:           20010418
Governor's Action:                S
Date of Governor's Action:        20010529
Subject:                          Veterans' Cemeteries, State; Veterans 
                                  Affairs Division to establish; Governor, 
                                  Military Affairs, Adjutant General


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
------  20010611  Act No. A33
------  20010529  Signed by Governor
------  20010523  Ratified R69
Senate  20010515  Read third time, enrolled for
                  ratification
Senate  20010514  Read second time
Senate  20010509  Recalled from Committee,               08 SG
                  placed on the second reading Calendar
Senate  20010424  Introduced, read first time,           08 SG
                  referred to Committee
House   20010419  Read third time, sent to Senate
House   20010418  Amended, read second time
House   20010411  Committee report: Favorable with       27 H3M
                  amendment
House   20010118  Introduced, read first time,           27 H3M
                  referred to Committee


              Versions of This Bill
Revised on April 11, 2001 - Word format
Revised on April 18, 2001 - Word format
Revised on May 9, 2001 - Word format

(A33, R69, H3287)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 25-11-80 SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ESTABLISH ONE OR MORE STATE VETERANS' CEMETERIES IN THE STATE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CEMETERIES MUST BE ACQUIRED, MAINTAINED, AND OPERATED, AND TO ESTABLISH QUALIFICATIONS FOR VETERANS AND OTHERS FOR A PLOT IN A VETERANS' CEMETERY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

State veterans' cemeteries may be established

SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 25-11-80. (A) In this section:

(1) 'state veterans' cemetery' means a cemetery that the Division of Veterans Affairs establishes under this section; and

(2) 'immediate family' means those family members who are eligible for burial in a Department of Veterans Affairs national cemetery.

(B) The division may establish one or more cemeteries in the State for the burial of veterans and their immediate families.

(C) The division may accept land, in the name of the State, or otherwise acquire land for a state veterans' cemetery, if the division has the approval of:

(1) the governing body of the county where the state veterans' cemetery is to be located;

(2) the delegation in the General Assembly for the county where the state veterans' cemetery is to be located; and

(3) the Budget and Control Board.

(D) The division shall maintain and supervise each state veterans' cemetery.

(E)(1) Subject to the limitations in this section, the division shall provide a plot in a state veterans' cemetery, without charge, to an applicant who meets the requirements of this section.

(2) In the order in which the division receives the applications for plots, the division shall allot a plot in the state veterans' cemetery that is closest to the residence of the veteran and has an available plot.

(F)(1) To qualify for a plot in a state veterans' cemetery, the applicant must be a veteran or a member of the immediate family of a veteran who meets the requirements of this subsection.

(2) The veteran must have an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces.

(3) The veteran must have been a resident of the State:

(a) when the veteran entered the Armed Forces;

(b) when the veteran died; or

(c) for twenty years, unless for a reason that the division finds compelling, the division waives the time period.

(G) To obtain a plot in a state veterans' cemetery, an applicant shall submit to the division an application on the form that the division provides.

(H) In a plot that is allotted to a veteran, the division shall bury:

(1) the veteran; and

(2) any member of the immediate family of the veteran if the family member can be buried in a space above or below the veteran.

(I)(1) The division shall bury the veteran without charge.

(2) For burial of a member of the immediate family, the division may:

(a) set a fee that does not exceed the cost of burial; or

(b) accept, from the social security burial allowance, an amount that does not exceed the cost of the burial.

(J) The division shall keep a registry of the graves of veterans who are buried in the state veterans' cemeteries."

Time effective

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 23rd day of May, 2001.

Approved the 29th day of May, 2001.

This web page was last updated on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 11:19 A.M.