Oklahoma § 72-34 - Interment or cremation assistance for indigent veterans

§ 72-34. Interment or cremation assistance for indigent veterans

A. The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs shall establish

a program to provide assistance for the proper interment or

cremation of honorably discharged indigent veterans of the United

States Armed Forces. The program shall aid in obtaining any

available burial benefits from the United States Department of

Veterans Affairs or through private organizations. The program

shall provide for a burial grant for any indigent veteran or any

person who qualifies for reimbursement as determined by the Oklahoma

Department of Veterans Affairs, for unpaid expenses directly

resulting from interment or cremation. Maximum reimbursement shall

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 72. Soldiers and Sailors

not exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per indigent veteran

application.

B. Eligibility requirements for the program shall be as

follows:

1. The deceased shall be a veteran as defined by Section 2 of

this title;

2. No one shall have claimed the remains of the deceased

Veteran;

3. The veteran shall have died in Oklahoma;

4. The veteran shall not have been in the custody of the

Department of Corrections at the time of death;

5. The applicant shall provide documentation establishing the

burial location of the deceased veteran's remains in a cemetery or

the location where the deceased veteran's cremains have been

permanently placed; and

6. The applicant shall provide documentation establishing that

the deceased veteran received a proper memorial headstone or marker

at the place of his or her interment as provided for in Section 2306

of Title 38 of the United States Code or that a memorial headstone

or marker meeting the same physical standards for size, material,

composition, placement and informational content was provided in the

event the deceased veteran did not qualify under the provisions of

Section 2306 of Title 38 of the United States Code.

C. The Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of

Veterans Affairs or his or her designee shall make final approval of

Indigent Veteran Burial Applications, shall determine whether the

deceased meets eligibility criteria and may approve funds to

reimburse the costs of interment or cremation.

D. Reimbursement shall be paid from the Indigent Veteran Burial

Revolving Fund. If there are insufficient resources in the Indigent

Veteran Burial Revolving Fund, payment shall be made from the

Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Revolving Fund.

Once funds are available in the Indigent Veteran Burial

Revolving Fund, the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs may be

reimbursed for payments made from the Oklahoma Department of

Veterans Affairs Revolving Fund.

E. Application processes for the implementation of this program

shall be developed by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

F. Rules for the implementation of this program shall be

promulgated by the Oklahoma Veterans Commission.

Added by Laws 2016, c. 394, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017. Amended by Laws

2019, c. 165, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.