2023 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
uniformed services of the United States who (i) was honorably discharged
from  such  service  or  (ii)  had a qualifying condition, as defined in
section one of the veterans' services  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 one of the veterans'
services 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  uniformed  services  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 one of the  veterans'  services
law,  or who has a qualifying condition as defined in section one of the
veterans' services law and has  received  a  discharge  other  than  bad
conduct  or  dishonorable, or is a discharged LGBT veteran as defined in
section one of the veterans' services law and has received  a  discharge
other than bad conduct or dishonorable, 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 shall 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.