Senate File 2064 - Introduced
SENATE FILE
BY BLACK
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the transfer of veterans commemorative
2 property placed in a cemetery, recodifying a provision
3 regarding veteran markers, and providing a penalty.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
5 TLSB 5146SS 81
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 35A.5, Code Supplement 2005, is amended
1 2 by adding the following new subsection:
1 3 NEW SUBSECTION. 11. Authorize the sale, trade, or
1 4 transfer of veterans commemorative property pursuant to
1 5 chapter 37A.
1 6 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 37A.1 VETERANS COMMEMORATIVE
1 7 PROPERTY.
1 8 1. For purposes of this chapter, unless the context
1 9 otherwise requires:
1 10 a. "Cemetery" means as defined in section 523I.102, but
1 11 includes pioneer cemeteries. "Cemetery" does not include
1 12 religious cemeteries as defined in section 523I.102 that
1 13 commenced business prior to July 1, 2005.
1 14 b. "Department" means the Iowa department of veterans
1 15 affairs.
1 16 c. "Veteran" means a deceased person who served in the
1 17 armed forces of the United States during a war in which the
1 18 United States was engaged or served full=time in active duty
1 19 in a force of an organized state militia, excluding service in
1 20 the national guard when in an inactive status.
1 21 d. "Veterans commemorative property" means any memorial as
1 22 defined in section 523I.102, including a headstone, plaque,
1 23 statue, urn, decoration, flag holder, badge, shield, item of
1 24 memorabilia, or other embellishment, that meets all of the
1 25 following criteria:
1 26 (1) Is over seventy=five years old.
1 27 (2) Identifies or commemorates any veteran or group of
1 28 veterans, including any veterans organization or any military
1 29 unit, company, battalion, or division.
1 30 (3) Has been placed in a cemetery.
1 31 e. "Veterans organization" means the grand army of the
1 32 republic, sons of union veterans of the civil war, sons of
1 33 confederate veterans, veterans of foreign wars, disabled
1 34 American veterans, united Spanish war veterans, the Jewish war
1 35 veterans of the United States, inc., the catholic war
2 1 veterans, inc., American legion, American veterans of World
2 2 War II, Italian American war veterans of the United States,
2 3 inc., or other corporation or association of veterans.
2 4 2. A person who owns or controls a cemetery where any
2 5 veterans commemorative property has been placed shall not
2 6 sell, trade, or transfer any part of such veterans
2 7 commemorative property unless the department authorizes the
2 8 person to do so. The department may authorize the sale,
2 9 trade, or transfer based upon the following criteria:
2 10 a. The veterans commemorative property is at reasonable
2 11 risk of physically deteriorating so that it will become
2 12 unrecognizable as identifying or commemorating the veteran or
2 13 group of veterans originally identified or commemorated.
2 14 b. The veterans commemorative property is proposed to be
2 15 sold, traded, or transferred to a suitable person that will
2 16 preserve the current condition of the veterans commemorative
2 17 property and place it in a suitable place that will
2 18 commemorate the veteran or group of veterans.
2 19 c. The person needs to sell, trade, or transfer the
2 20 veterans commemorative property to ensure that sufficient
2 21 funds are available to suitably maintain the cemetery where
2 22 the veterans commemorative property is placed, and the
2 23 specific lot, plot, grave, burial place, niche, crypt, or
2 24 other place of interment of such veteran or group of veterans.
2 25 d. The veterans commemorative property that is to be sold,
2 26 traded, or transferred will be replaced at its original site
2 27 by a fitting replacement commemorative property, monument, or
2 28 marker that appropriately identifies and commemorates the
2 29 veteran or group of veterans.
2 30 e. If the person reasonably believes that the veterans
2 31 commemorative property to be sold, traded, or transferred was
2 32 donated by a veterans organization, the veterans organization
2 33 consents to the sale, trade, or transfer of the veterans
2 34 commemorative property.
2 35 f. If the person is not the owner of the veterans
3 1 commemorative property that is to be sold, traded, or
3 2 transferred, the person is authorized by the owner of such
3 3 veterans commemorative property, or by operation of law other
3 4 than this section, to sell, trade, or transfer the veterans
3 5 commemorative property and to retain and use the proceeds of
3 6 the sale, trade, or transfer.
3 7 3. A person who engages in the sale, trade, or transfer of
3 8 veterans commemorative property without the authorization of
3 9 the department pursuant to this section is guilty of a simple
3 10 misdemeanor.
3 11 4. The department may adopt rules in accordance with
3 12 chapter 17A to administer this chapter.
3 13 Sec. 3. CODE EDITOR DIRECTIVE. The Code editor is
3 14 directed to transfer section 714.7A regarding theft of a
3 15 veteran's grave marker to chapter 35B as section 35B.16A.
3 16 EXPLANATION
3 17 This bill prohibits the unauthorized sale, trade, or
3 18 transfer of veterans commemorative property; a person that
3 19 engages in an unauthorized sale, trade, or transfer of
3 20 veterans commemorative property is guilty of a simple
3 21 misdemeanor. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by
3 22 confinement for no more than 30 days or a fine of at least $50
3 23 but not more than $500 or by both.
3 24 Any type of memorial more than 75 years old that
3 25 commemorates or identifies a veteran or a group of veterans
3 26 and rests in a cemetery qualifies as veterans commemorative
3 27 property. The bill also contains definitions for "cemetery",
3 28 "veteran", and "veterans organization". "Cemetery" does not
3 29 include certain restricted private burial sites, but does
3 30 include pioneer cemeteries, i.e., a cemetery where there were
3 31 six or fewer burials in the preceding 50 years. The bill does
3 32 not apply to religious cemeteries, as defined in Code section
3 33 523I.102, that commenced operation prior to July 1, 2005; this
3 34 is consistent with the Iowa Cemetery Act passed in 2005.
3 35 A person who owns or controls a cemetery where any veterans
4 1 commemorative property is placed is required to obtain
4 2 authorization from the Iowa department of veterans affairs to
4 3 sell, trade, or transfer all or any part of such veterans
4 4 commemorative property. The department may authorize the
4 5 sale, trade, or transfer, based upon specific criteria as
4 6 follows.
4 7 1. The veterans commemorative property is at reasonable
4 8 risk of physically deteriorating so that the commemoration or
4 9 identification will become unrecognizable.
4 10 2. The person who owns or controls a cemetery needs to
4 11 sell, trade, or transfer veterans commemorative property in
4 12 order to adequately maintain the cemetery and place of
4 13 interment of the veteran or group of veterans.
4 14 3. The veterans commemorative property to be sold, traded,
4 15 or transferred will be replaced with a suitable replacement
4 16 that identifies and commemorates the veteran or group of
4 17 veterans.
4 18 4. If the veterans commemorative property was donated by a
4 19 veterans organization, such donor consents to the sale, trade,
4 20 or transfer.
4 21 5. The person, if not the owner of the veterans
4 22 commemorative property, is authorized to sell, trade, or
4 23 transfer such property and retain and use the resulting
4 24 proceeds.
4 25 The bill allows the department to adopt rules needed to
4 26 administer the new Code chapter.
4 27 The bill directs the Code editor to transfer Code section
4 28 714.7A to Code chapter 35B as section 35B.16A. This provision
4 29 deals with theft of a veteran's grave marker. Code chapter
4 30 35B provides for veteran markers and other veterans affairs
4 31 matters. Code chapter 714 covers theft, fraud, and related
4 32 offenses, in general.
4 33 LSB 5146SS 81
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