By Hunter H.B. No. 840
75R1810 MCK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the State Cemetery and the creation of the State
1-3 Cemetery Committee.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2165.256, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 2165.256. STATE CEMETERY AND OTHER BURIAL GROUNDS.
1-8 (a) The State Cemetery Committee [commission] shall oversee all
1-9 operations of the State Cemetery[:]
1-10 [(1) control, manage, and beautify the grounds of the
1-11 State Cemetery;]
1-12 [(2) preserve the grounds of the cemetery and related
1-13 property; and]
1-14 [(3) protect the property from depreciation and
1-15 injury].
1-16 (b) In addition to the property described as Lot No. 5,
1-17 Division B, City of Austin, Travis County, Texas, the following
1-18 property is dedicated for cemetery purposes as part of the State
1-19 Cemetery: BEING APPROXIMATELY 50.00 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF AND A
1-20 PORTION OF THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED TRACT OF LAND. 75.688 RECORD
1-21 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF THE GEORGE W. SPEAR SURVEY IN THE CITY OF
1-22 AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, DESCRIBED BY DEED TO THE STATE OF
1-23 TEXAS AS RECORDED IN VOLUME 76, PAGE 225, OF THE DEED RECORDS OF
1-24 TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, SAID 75.688 ACRE TRACT OF LAND BEING MORE
2-1 PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
2-2 (1) Bounded on the west by Bull Creek Road.
2-3 (2) Bounded on the north by the following subdivisions
2-4 in the City of Austin, Texas,
2-5 (A) Shoal Village Section 2, as recorded in Plat
2-6 Book 5, Page 150 of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
2-7 (B) Shoal Village Section 3, as recorded in Plat
2-8 Book 6, Page 71, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
2-9 (C) Shoal Village Section 5, as recorded in Plat
2-10 Book 6, Page 72, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
2-11 (D) Shoal Village Section 6, as recorded in Plat
2-12 Book 7, Page 7, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
2-13 (E) Shoal Village Section 7, as recorded in Plat
2-14 Book 14, Page 80 of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas,
2-15 (F) Oak Haven Section 3, as recorded in Plat
2-16 Book 11, Page 40, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas.
2-17 (3) Bounded on the east by the centerline of Shoal
2-18 Creek,
2-19 (4) Bounded along the south by Ridgelea, a subdivision
2-20 of record in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Plat Book 4,
2-21 Page 258 of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas.
2-22 (c) The committee [commission] shall procure and erect at
2-23 the head of each grave that does not have a permanent monument a
2-24 marble obelisk on which shall be engraved the name of the dead
2-25 buried in the grave.
2-26 (d) [(c)] Persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery
2-27 are:
3-1 (1) a former member of the legislature or a member who
3-2 dies in office;
3-3 (2) a former elective state official or an elective
3-4 state official who dies in office;
3-5 (3) a former state official or a state official who
3-6 dies in office who has been appointed by the governor and confirmed
3-7 by the senate and who served at least 12 years in the office to
3-8 which appointed;
3-9 (4) a person specified by a governor's proclamation,
3-10 subject to review and approval by the committee under Subsection
3-11 (e); [and]
3-12 (5) a person specified by a concurrent resolution
3-13 adopted by the legislature, subject to review and approval by the
3-14 committee under Subsection (e); and
3-15 (6) a person specified by order of the committee under
3-16 Subsection (e).
3-17 (e) The committee shall review proclamations under
3-18 Subsection (d)(4) and resolutions under Subsection (d)(5). A
3-19 person specified in a proclamation or resolution is eligible for
3-20 burial in the State Cemetery only if the committee, following its
3-21 review, finds that the person specified made a significant
3-22 contribution to Texas history and only if based on that finding the
3-23 committee approves the person's burial in the cemetery. The
3-24 committee may by order authorize a burial under Subsection (d)(6)
3-25 only during a period in which the legislature is not convened in
3-26 regular or special session and only if the committee finds that the
3-27 person made a significant contribution to Texas history.
4-1 (f) [(d)] Grave spaces are allotted for:
4-2 (1) a person eligible for burial under Subsection (d)
4-3 [(c)];
4-4 (2) the person's spouse; and
4-5 (3) the person's unmarried child, if the child, on
4-6 September 1, 1979, or at the time of the child's death, is a
4-7 resident in a state eleemosynary institution.
4-8 (g) [(e)] A child eligible for burial under Subsection (f)
4-9 [(d)](3) must be buried alongside the child's parent or parents.
4-10 (h) [(f)] A grave plot may not be longer than eight feet nor
4-11 wider than three [five] feet times the number of persons of one
4-12 family authorized to be buried alongside one another.
4-13 (i) [(g)] The committee shall adopt rules regulating the
4-14 monuments erected in the State Cemetery [A monument or statue may
4-15 not be erected that is taller than a monument or statue that
4-16 existed in the State Cemetery on September 1, 1979].
4-17 (j) [(h)] A tree, shrub, or flower may not be planted in the
4-18 State Cemetery without the committee's [commission's] written
4-19 permission.
4-20 (k) [(i)] A person may be buried on state property only in
4-21 the State Cemetery or in a cemetery maintained by a state
4-22 eleemosynary institution. Other state property, including the
4-23 State Capitol grounds, may not be used as a burial site.
4-24 (l) [(j)] The committee [commission] shall allot and locate
4-25 the necessary number of grave plots authorized on application made
4-26 by:
4-27 (1) the person primarily eligible for burial under
5-1 Subsection (d) [(c)];
5-2 (2) the person's spouse; or
5-3 (3) the executor or administrator of the person's
5-4 estate.
5-5 (m) The committee shall consider for burial in the State
5-6 Cemetery persons who have made significant contributions to Texas
5-7 history and culture in the following fields: air and space,
5-8 agriculture, art and design, business and labor, city building,
5-9 education, industry, justice, oil and gas, performing arts,
5-10 philanthropy, ranching, religion, science and medicine, sports, and
5-11 writing.
5-12 (n) The committee shall consider for reinterment in the
5-13 State Cemetery persons from the following eras: Spanish
5-14 exploration and colonization, Mexican, Texas revolution, republic
5-15 and statehood, Civil War and Reconstruction, frontier, Gilded Age,
5-16 progressive, Great Depression and World War II, postwar, and
5-17 modern.
5-18 (o) The committee shall designate different areas of the
5-19 cemetery for burial of persons from the fields described in
5-20 Subsection (m).
5-21 (p) The committee shall develop plans for obtaining land
5-22 adjacent to the State Cemetery for expansion of the cemetery.
5-23 (q) The committee shall actively pursue plot reservations
5-24 from persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery.
5-25 (r) The committee shall encourage members of the legislature
5-26 to advise constituents who are eligible for burial in the State
5-27 Cemetery.
6-1 SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 2165, Government Code, is
6-2 amended by adding Section 2165.2561 to read as follows:
6-3 Sec. 2165.2561. STATE CEMETERY COMMITTEE. (a) The State
6-4 Cemetery Committee is composed of:
6-5 (1) three voting members appointed as follows:
6-6 (A) one member of the general public appointed
6-7 by the governor;
6-8 (B) one member of the general public appointed
6-9 by the governor from a list submitted by the lieutenant governor;
6-10 and
6-11 (C) one member of the general public appointed
6-12 by the governor from a list submitted by the speaker of the house
6-13 of representatives; and
6-14 (2) three nonvoting advisory members appointed as
6-15 follows:
6-16 (A) one employee of the Texas Historical
6-17 Commission appointed by the executive director of the Texas
6-18 Historical Commission;
6-19 (B) one employee of the General Services
6-20 Commission appointed by the executive director of the General
6-21 Services Commission; and
6-22 (C) one employee of the Parks and Wildlife
6-23 Department appointed by the executive director of the Parks and
6-24 Wildlife Department.
6-25 (b) The governor shall designate the presiding officer of
6-26 the committee from among its members, and the presiding officer
6-27 serves in that capacity for two years.
7-1 (c) The members of the committee appointed by the governor
7-2 are appointed for staggered terms of six years with one member's
7-3 term expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year. The advisory
7-4 members of the committee serve at the will of the appointing
7-5 authority.
7-6 (d) Appointments to the committee shall be made without
7-7 regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
7-8 national origin of the appointees.
7-9 (e) A vacancy on the committee is filled by the appointing
7-10 authority in the same manner as the original appointment.
7-11 (f) An employee member vacates the person's position on the
7-12 committee if the person ceases to be an employee of the appointing
7-13 agency.
7-14 (g) A person is not eligible for appointment to the
7-15 committee by the governor if the person or the person's spouse:
7-16 (1) is employed by or participates in the management
7-17 of a business entity or other organization receiving funds from the
7-18 committee;
7-19 (2) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more
7-20 than a 10 percent interest in a business entity or other
7-21 organization receiving funds from the committee; or
7-22 (3) uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
7-23 goods, services, or funds from the committee, other than
7-24 compensation or reimbursement authorized by law for committee
7-25 membership, attendance, or expenses.
7-26 (h) A person may not serve as a member of the committee if
7-27 the person is required to be registered as a lobbyist under Chapter
8-1 305 because of the person's activities for compensation on behalf
8-2 of a profession related to the operation of the State Cemetery.
8-3 (i) A public member of the committee is not entitled to
8-4 compensation but is entitled to reimbursement, from committee
8-5 funds, for the travel expenses incurred by the member while
8-6 conducting the business of the committee, as provided in the
8-7 General Appropriations Act. The entitlement of an employee member
8-8 to compensation or reimbursement for travel expenses is governed by
8-9 the law applying to the person's service in that underlying
8-10 position, and any payments to the person shall be made from the
8-11 appropriate funds of the employing agency.
8-12 (j) The State Cemetery Committee is subject to Chapter 325
8-13 (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by
8-14 that chapter, the committee is abolished and this section expires
8-15 September 1, 2009.
8-16 (k) At the direction of the State Cemetery Committee, the
8-17 General Services Commission, Parks and Wildlife Department, or
8-18 Texas Historical Commission shall spend money appropriated to or
8-19 budgeted by the agency for State Cemetery purposes.
8-20 (l) Funds appropriated to the General Services Commission,
8-21 Parks and Wildlife Department, or Texas Historical Commission may
8-22 be transferred by interagency contract to perform, at the direction
8-23 of the State Cemetery Committee, an act related to the State
8-24 Cemetery.
8-25 (m) The committee may adopt rules as necessary for the
8-26 administration of the State Cemetery.
8-27 SECTION 3. (a) In addition to the substantive changes made
9-1 by this Act, this Act conforms Section 2165.256, Government Code,
9-2 to Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular
9-3 Session, 1995.
9-4 (b) Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
9-5 Regular Session, 1995, is repealed.
9-6 (c) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
9-7 another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
9-8 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
9-9 codes.
9-10 SECTION 4. (a) The initial gubernatorial appointments to
9-11 the State Cemetery Committee shall be made so that one member is
9-12 appointed to a term expiring February 1, 1999, one member to a term
9-13 expiring February 1, 2001, and one member to a term expiring
9-14 February 1, 2003.
9-15 (b) Until a majority of the persons appointed by the
9-16 governor under this section assume their positions, the operation
9-17 of the State Cemetery continues to be governed by the law as it
9-18 existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
9-19 prior law is continued in effect for that purpose.
9-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
9-21 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
9-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.