Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act
PL 113-65 (S.1471), enacted 12/20/2013

[113th Congress Public Law 65]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 127 STAT. 669]]

Public Law 113-65
113th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the 
Army to reconsider decisions to inter or honor the memory of a person in 
     a national cemetery, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 20, 
                          2013 -  [S. 1471]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Alicia Dawn 
Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 38 USC 101 note.>>  SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for 
National Cemeteries Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO RECONSIDER DECISIONS OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
                    AFFAIRS OR SECRETARY OF THE ARMY TO INTER THE 
                    REMAINS OR HONOR THE MEMORY OF A PERSON IN A 
                    NATIONAL CEMETERY.

    (a) Authority To Reconsider Prior Decisions.--Section 2411 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsections:

    ``(d)(1) In a case described in subsection (e), the appropriate 
Federal official may reconsider a decision to--
            ``(A) inter the remains of a person in a cemetery in the 
        National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery; or
            ``(B) honor the memory of a person in a memorial area in a 
        cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration (described in 
        section 2403(a) of this title) or in such an area in Arlington 
        National Cemetery (described in section 2409(a) of this title).

    ``(2)(A)(i) <<NOTE: Notices.>>  In a case described in subsection 
(e)(1)(A), the appropriate Federal official shall provide notice to the 
deceased person's next of kin or other person authorized to arrange 
burial or memorialization of the deceased person of the decision of the 
appropriate Federal official to disinter the remains of the deceased 
person or to remove a memorial headstone or marker memorializing the 
deceased person.

    ``(ii) In a case described in subsection (e)(1)(B), if the 
appropriate Federal official finds, based upon a showing of clear and 
convincing evidence and after an opportunity for a hearing in a manner 
prescribed by the appropriate Federal official, that the person had 
committed a Federal capital crime or a State capital crime but had not 
been convicted of such crime by reason of such person not being 
available for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution, the 
appropriate Federal official shall provide notice to the

[[Page 127 STAT. 670]]

deceased person's next of kin or other person authorized to arrange 
burial or memorialization of the deceased person of the decision of the 
appropriate Federal official to disinter the remains of the deceased 
person or to remove a memorial headstone or marker memorializing the 
deceased person.
    ``(B) Notice under subparagraph (A) shall be provided by the 
appropriate Federal official as follows:
            ``(i) By the Secretary in accordance with section 5104 of 
        this title.
            ``(ii) <<NOTE: Regulations.>>  By the Secretary of Defense 
        in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of Defense 
        shall prescribe for purposes of this subsection.

    ``(3)(A) <<NOTE: Time period. Notice.>>  Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the next of kin or other person authorized to arrange 
burial or memorialization of the deceased person shall be allowed a 
period of 60 days from the date of the notice required by paragraph (2) 
to file a notice of disagreement with the Federal official that provided 
the notice.

    ``(B)(i) <<NOTE: Review.>>  A notice of disagreement filed with the 
Secretary under subparagraph (A) shall be treated as a notice of 
disagreement filed under section 7105 of this title and shall initiate 
appellate review in accordance with the provisions of chapter 71 of this 
title.

    ``(ii) <<NOTE: Regulations.>>  A notice of disagreement filed with 
the Secretary of Defense under subparagraph (A) shall be decided in 
accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of Defense shall 
prescribe for purposes of this subsection.

    ``(4) When the decision of the appropriate Federal official to 
disinter the remains or remove a memorial headstone or marker of the 
deceased person becomes final either by failure to appeal the decision 
in accordance with paragraph (3)(A) or by final disposition of the 
appeal pursuant to paragraph (3)(B), the appropriate Federal official 
may take any of the following actions:
            ``(A) Disinter the remains of the person from the cemetery 
        in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery and provide for the reburial or other appropriate 
        disposition of the disinterred remains in a place other than a 
        cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington 
        National Cemetery.
            ``(B) Remove from a memorial area in a cemetery in the 
        National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery any memorial headstone or marker placed to honor the 
        memory of the person.

    ``(e)(1) A case described in this subsection is a case in which the 
appropriate federal official receives--
            ``(A) written notice of a conviction referred to in 
        subsection (b)(1), (b)(2), or (b)(4) of a person described in 
        paragraph (2); or
            ``(B) information that a person described in paragraph (2) 
        may have committed a Federal capital crime or a State capital 
        crime but was not convicted of such crime by reason of such 
        person not being available for trial due to death or flight to 
        avoid prosecution.

    ``(2) A person described in this paragraph is a person--
            ``(A) whose remains have been interred in a cemetery in the 
        National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery; or

[[Page 127 STAT. 671]]

            ``(B) whose memory has been honored in a memorial area in a 
        cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in such an 
        area in Arlington National Cemetery.''.

    (b) Modification of Exception To Interment or Memorialization 
Prohibition.--Subsection (a)(2) of such section is amended by striking 
``such official approves an application for''.
    (c) <<NOTE: 38 USC 2411 note.>>  Applicability.--The amendments made 
by this section shall apply with respect to any interment or 
memorialization conducted by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the 
Secretary of the Army in a cemetery in the National Cemetery 
Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. DISINTERMENT OF REMAINS OF MICHAEL LASHAWN ANDERSON FROM 
                    FORT CUSTER NATIONAL CEMETERY.

    (a) Disinterment of Remains.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall disinter the remains of Michael LaShawn Anderson from Fort Custer 
National Cemetery.
    (b) Notification of Next-of-Kin.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall--
            (1) notify the next-of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn 
        Anderson of the impending disinterment of his remains; and
            (2) upon disinterment, relinquish the remains to the next-
        of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson or, if the next-
        of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson is unavailable, 
        arrange for an appropriate disposition of the remains.

    Approved December 20, 2013.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1471:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 159 (2013):
            Nov. 18, considered and passed Senate.
            Dec. 11, considered and passed House.

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