1-1 By: Armbrister S.B. No. 21
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed April 21, 1995; April 21, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 April 25, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 12,
1-5 Nays 0; April 25, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the State Cemetery.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 4.10, State Purchasing and General
1-11 Services Act (Article 601b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-12 amended by amending Subsections (b) and (c) and by adding
1-13 Subsections (a-1) and (b-1) to read as follows:
1-14 (a-1) In addition to the property described as Lot No. 5,
1-15 Division B, City of Austin, Travis County, Texas, the following
1-16 property is dedicated for cemetery purposes as part of the State
1-17 Cemetery:
1-18 BEING APPROXIMATELY 50.00 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF AND A PORTION OF THE
1-19 FOLLOWING DESCRIBED TRACT OF LAND. 75.688 RECORD ACRES OF LAND OUT
1-20 OF THE GEORGE W. SPEAR SURVEY IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY,
1-21 TEXAS, DESCRIBED BY DEED TO THE STATE OF TEXAS AS RECORDED IN
1-22 VOLUME 76, PAGE 225, OF THE DEED RECORDS OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS,
1-23 SAID 75.688 ACRE TRACT OF LAND BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS
1-24 FOLLOWS:
1-25 1) Bounded on the west by Bull Creek Road.
1-26 2) Bounded on the north by the following subdivisions in the
1-27 City of Austin, Texas,
1-28 A) Shoal Village Section 2, as recorded in Plat Book
1-29 5, Page 150 of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
1-30 B) Shoal Village Section 3, as recorded in Plat Book
1-31 6, Page 71, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
1-32 C) Shoal Village Section 5, as recorded in Plat Book
1-33 6, Page 72, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
1-34 D) Shoal Village Section 6, as recorded in Plat Book
1-35 7, Page 7, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
1-36 E) Shoal Village Section 7, as recorded in Plat Book
1-37 14, Page 80 of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
1-38 F) Oak Haven Section 3, as recorded in Plat Book 11,
1-39 Page 40, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas.
1-40 3) Bounded on the east by the centerline of Shoal Creek,
1-41 4) Bounded along the south by Ridgelea, a subdivision of
1-42 record in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Plat Book 4,
1-43 Page 258 of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas.
1-44 (b) The persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery
1-45 are as follows:
1-46 (1) present and former members of the Texas
1-47 Legislature;
1-48 (2) present and former elective state officials;
1-49 (3) present and former state officials who have been
1-50 appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate and who have
1-51 served at least 12 years in the office to which appointed;
1-52 (4) persons specified by a governor's proclamation,
1-53 subject to review and approval by the Texas Historical Commission
1-54 under Subsection (b-1) of this section; <and>
1-55 (5) persons specified in a concurrent resolution
1-56 adopted by the legislature, subject to review and approval by the
1-57 Texas Historical Commission under Subsection (b-1) of this section;
1-58 and
1-59 (6) persons specified by order of the Texas Historical
1-60 Commission under Subsection (b-1) of this section.
1-61 (b-1) The Texas Historical Commission shall review
1-62 proclamations under Subsection (b)(4) of this section and
1-63 resolutions under Subsection (b)(5) of this section. A person
1-64 specified in a proclamation or resolution is eligible for burial in
1-65 the State Cemetery only if the commission, following its review,
1-66 finds that the person specified made a significant contribution to
1-67 Texas history and only if based on that finding the Texas
1-68 Historical Commission approves the person's burial in the cemetery.
2-1 The Texas Historical Commission may by order authorize a burial
2-2 under Subsection (b)(6) of this section only during a period in
2-3 which the legislature is not convened in regular or special session
2-4 and only if the commission finds that the person made a significant
2-5 contribution to Texas history.
2-6 (c) Grave spaces shall be allotted for a person eligible for
2-7 burial and for his or her spouse, together with his or her
2-8 unmarried child or children, which child or children shall be
2-9 buried alongside his, her, or their parent or parents, provided
2-10 that such child on the effective date of this Act or at the time of
2-11 his or her death is a resident in any state eleemosynary
2-12 institution. Children other than those hereinabove made eligible
2-13 for burial may not be included. The size of a grave plot may not
2-14 be longer than eight feet nor wider than three <five> feet times
2-15 the number of persons of one family authorized hereunder to be
2-16 buried alongside one another.
2-17 SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Historical Commission shall
2-18 undertake a study of the persons eligible under law for burial in
2-19 the State Cemetery and make recommendations to the 75th Legislature
2-20 concerning the persons eligible. The commission shall consider in
2-21 particular whether persons who have made significant contributions
2-22 to Texas history in the fields of business, literature, arts, or
2-23 science should be included in the list of eligible persons.
2-24 (b) This section expires January 1, 1997.
2-25 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Subdivision
2-26 (3), Subsection (b), Section 4.10, State Purchasing and General
2-27 Services Act (Article 601b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
2-28 concerning the eligibility for burial in the State Cemetery of
2-29 present and former appointed state officials, does not apply to
2-30 persons who were eligible before the effective date of this Act and
2-31 who have made reservations for that purpose with the State
2-32 Purchasing and General Services Commission. Those persons remain
2-33 eligible under the prior law, and the prior law is continued in
2-34 effect for that purpose.
2-35 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-36 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-37 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-38 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-39 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-40 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-41 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-42 * * * * *