Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 38. MILITARY, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, AND VETERANS AFFAIRS · Chapter 4. VETERANS AFFAIRS · Article 2. VETERANS BENEFITS · Part 3. GEORGIA VETERANS CEMETERIES

38-4-70. Cemeteries established; eligibility for interment.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:#
1. (1)
  “Full term” means the length of service agreed to by an enlisted or commissioned person in the armed forces of the United States.#
2. (2)
  “Reserve component” means, with respect to the United States armed forces, the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Space Force Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, and Air National Guard.#
(b)
The Department of Veterans Service is authorized to establish, operate, and maintain Georgia veterans cemeteries in this state; provided, however, that the Georgia veterans cemetery in existence on July 1, 2002, shall be known as the “Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery.”#
(c)
The Department of Veterans Service has the primary responsibility for verifying eligibility for interment in a Georgia veterans cemetery. Eligibility criteria for interment in a Georgia veterans cemetery is as follows:#
1. (1)
  The same as required for interment in a national cemetery as provided by federal law and rules and regulations applicable thereto; or#
2. (2)
  The following individuals shall qualify for interment in a Georgia veterans cemetery pursuant to the federal Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act of 2021, provided such individuals completed a full term of service and became deceased on or after August 1, 1990:#
  (A)
  A member of a reserve component whose service was terminated under honorable conditions;#
  (B)
  A member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Space Force who died under honorable conditions while a service member; or#
  (C)
  A spouse, minor child, or unmarried adult child of any service member described in paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection.#
(d)
The Department of Veterans Service is authorized to charge a fee for burial services in Georgia veterans cemeteries for each person being buried. Such fees may be based on the allowance paid for the burial of an eligible veteran in a national veterans cemetery or such other amount as the commissioner of veterans service determines is appropriate.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Code 1981, § 38-4-70, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 877, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 797, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1135, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1479, § 1/HB 440; Ga. L. 2025, p. 528, § 2/HB 53, effective July 1, 2025.

Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, rewrote this Code section.

Editor's notes

Ga. L. 2025, p. 528, § 1/HB 53, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds the following: “(1) At present, National Guard and other reserve component members of the United States armed forces, their spouses, and their children are generally not eligible to be buried in a national or state veterans cemetery; “(2) The federal Burial Equity for Guards and ReservesAct of 2021 prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from establishing a condition for a federal cemetery grant that restricts the ability of states to bury certain reserve component members, their spouses, and their children at state owned veterans cemeteries solely because such individuals are ineligible for burial in a national veterans cemetery; “(3) Consequently, this state may authorize certain reserve component members, their spouses, and their children to be buried at a Georgia veterans cemetery without the threat of loss of federal veterans burial grants; “(4) Approximately 25 other states have revised their laws since the enactment of the federal Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act of 2021; “(5) The Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide a plot allowance or marker for interment at Georgia veterans cemeteries; and “(6) Legislation is needed to honor Geor-gians who honorably served in reserve components of the United States armed forces and their families and fees need to be charged for services provided.”

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Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t37-t39-(v28)-pdf.pdf, Volume V28, 2021 edition, 2025 supplement, pages 197 to 198; merge action: replaced; file SHA-256 6e7899178423.

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