§ 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.

* NB Effective until April 1, 2025

* (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. With
respect to any state fiscal year, the commissioner of veterans' services
shall provide a percentage increase in the maximum amount of funeral and
burial service expenses payable under this paragraph, equal to the
percentage by which (i) the consumer price index (all items, United
States city average) for the twelve-month period ending on the March
thirty-first preceding the beginning of the state fiscal year for which
the increase is made, exceeds (ii) the consumer price index for the
twelve-month period preceding the twelve-month period described in
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. Such percentage increase shall be
rounded up to the next highest one-tenth of one percent and shall not be
less than one percent nor more than four percent. Commencing in the year
two thousand twenty-six, the commissioner of veterans' services, not
later than February first of each year, shall publish the amount of the
total reimbursement, as adjusted, payable under this section.

* NB Effective April 1, 2025

(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.