NY Gen Mun L § 148 (2021)
2021 New York Laws GMU - General Municipal Article 7-A - Burial of Veterans and Their Families; Certain Permit Requirements 148 - Burial of Members of the Armed Forces of the United States and Their Families; Headstones.

§  148. Burial of members of the armed forces of the United States and their families; headstones. 1. Burial.  (a) The board of supervisors  in each  of the counties, or the board of estimate in the city of New York, shall designate some proper person,  association  or  commission,  other than  that  designated  for  the  care  of  burial  of public charges or criminals, who shall cause to be interred the body of any member of  the armed  forces of the United States who (i) was honorably discharged from such service or (ii) had a qualifying condition, as defined  in  section three hundred fifty of the executive law, and received a discharge other than  bad  conduct  or  dishonorable  from  such service, or (iii) was a discharged LGBT veteran, as defined in section three  hundred  fifty  of the  executive  law,  and received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service, or the body of any minor child or either parent, or the spouse or unremarried surviving spouse of any such member of the armed forces of the United States, if such person shall hereafter die in a county or in the city of New York  without  leaving  sufficient means to defray his or her funeral expenses.  (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, such counties or  city,  as  the  case  may  be,  shall receive reimbursement for such expense  subject  to  the  reimbursement  limitations  provided  for  in subdivision five of section one hundred forty-one of the social services law,  provided  that  such  expense  is  otherwise  eligible  for  state reimbursement pursuant to the provisions of such section.  (c) If the deceased has relatives who desire to  conduct  the  burial, but are unable to pay the charge therefor, such sum shall be paid by the county  treasurer or other fiscal officer, to the person, association or commission so conducting such burial, upon due proof of the claim,  made to such person, association or commission of the death or burial of such person, and audit thereof.  (d)  Such  interment  shall not be made in a cemetery or cemetery plot used exclusively for the burial of needy persons deceased, and the board of supervisors of each county is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to purchase and acquire lands, or to appropriate money for the purchase and acquisition  of lands, for a cemetery or cemetery plot for the burial of any such persons and also  to  provide  for  the  care,  maintenance  or improvement of any cemetery or plot where such persons are buried or may hereafter be buried.   1-a.  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, in the case of a veteran, as defined in section forty-two hundred three of  the public  health law, who died in a county or the city of New York leaving no funds or insurance sufficient to pay funeral and burial  expenses  of such  veteran  and  such  veteran has no next of kin or person of record previously designated to control his or her final  disposition  pursuant to  section four thousand two hundred one of the public health law, such county or the city of New York may request a  congressionally  chartered veterans'  organization  within the county or the city of New York where the decedent resided at the time of death, to engage the services  of  a funeral firm to conduct the funeral and burial services.  (b)  Such  organization  shall  incur  the  costs associated with such services, which shall include but not be limited to, the purchase  of  a suitable  container  for  burial,  the  funeral  director's  prices  for merchandise and services furnished, cost of a grave site and a  military funeral service at the cemetery to which such body shall be interred.  (c)  The  county  or  the city of New York shall endeavor to make such requests  to  a  diversity  of   congressionally   chartered   veterans' organizations within their jurisdiction, in an effort to share the costs described  in  paragraph (b) of this subdivision in a fair and equitable manner.  (d) The state shall reimburse such congressionally chartered veterans' organization for such funeral and burial service expenses for  veterans, except  those  expenses  previously  reimbursed  pursuant to section one hundred forty-one of the social services law or any other law  or  those expenses  reimbursable  or  payable  by the federal government; provided however, that the total reimbursement pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed two thousand dollars per burial.  (e) A congressionally chartered veterans' organization determining  in good  faith  that  it cannot financially bear the costs of the requested funeral and burial services  as  described  in  paragraph  (b)  of  this subdivision, and declaring in good faith to the requesting county or the city  of  New  York  that  the  organization  is unable to pay for these expenses, shall not be required by the county or the city of New York to initially fund these requested services.   2. Headstones. (a) The grave of any such person whose  body  has  been heretofore  or  shall  hereafter  be so interred, or who shall have been heretofore buried in any of the counties of this state, but whose  grave is  not marked by a suitable headstone, if such person has died or shall die without leaving means to defray the expense of  such  headstone,  or whose  grave  shall  have remained unmarked for five years by a suitable headstone, shall be marked by  a  headstone  bearing  the  name  of  the deceased, the war in which he served, and, if possible, the organization to which he belonged or in which he served.  (b)  The  headstone  at the grave of the spouse or surviving spouse of such member of the armed forces of the United States shall  contain  the name  of the deceased, the war in which his or her spouse served and, if possible, the organization to which he or she belonged or in which he or she served.  (c) Such headstone shall be of such design and material  as  shall  be approved by the board of supervisors.  (d)  Where  a  headstone or the foundation thereof as herein provided, shall have become damaged  by  accident  or  the  elements,  it  may  be repaired, provided the expense is less than the cost of a new headstone.  (e)  The  board  of  supervisors  of the county of which such deceased person was a resident at  the  time  of  his  or  her  death  is  hereby authorized  and  directed  to  audit the account and pay the expenses of such burial and headstone, and a reasonable sum  for  the  services  and necessary  expenses  of  the person or commission so designated. In case such person shall be at the time of his or  her  death  an  incarcerated individual  of  any  state  institution,  including  state hospitals and soldiers'  homes,  or  any  institution,  supported  by  the  state  and supported  by  public  expense  therein,  the expense of such burial and headstone shall be a  charge  upon  the  county  of  his  or  her  legal residence.  (f)  Where  the  providing  of  a  headstone is authorized in any case pursuant to this section, and  in  lieu  of  making  such  provision  as hereinbefore  set  forth,  the board responsible for payment of the cost thereof may make application  for  a  headstone  in  such  case  to  any officer,  board,  body  or  agency  of  the United States required by or pursuant to the laws thereof to furnish a headstone  without  charge  to mark  the  grave  of  the deceased person in such case and, in the event such headstone is accordingly furnished, may audit the account  and  pay the  expense  incident  to  the  obtaining and for the erection thereof, including any necessary transportation charges,  in  an  amount  not  in excess  of  the maximum sum authorized to be expended for a headstone as provided in paragraph (c) of this subdivision.   3. Reports. It shall be the duty of the person or commission  in  this section   provided,  prior  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  board  of  supervisors to make an annual report to such board of supervisors of all the applications since  the  last  annual  report  for  burial  and  the erection  of  tombstones  as  provided herein, together with the amounts allowed. All applications herein referred to shall accompany said annual report and be placed and kept on file with the board of supervisors.