By: Barrientos S.B. No. 973
97S0668/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the State Cemetery and the creation of the State
1-2 Cemetery Committee.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 2165.256, Government Code, is amended to
1-5 conform to Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
1-6 1995, and further amended to 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
2-1 TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, SAID 75.688 ACRE TRACT OF LAND BEING MORE
2-2 PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
2-3 (1) bounded on the west by Bull Creek Road;
2-4 (2) bounded on the north by the following subdivisions
2-5 in the City of Austin, Texas:
2-6 (A) Shoal Village Section 2, as recorded in Plat
2-7 Book 5, Page 150, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
2-8 (B) Shoal Village Section 3, as recorded in Plat
2-9 Book 6, Page 71, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
2-10 (C) Shoal Village Section 5, as recorded in Plat
2-11 Book 6, Page 72, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
2-12 (D) Shoal Village Section 6, as recorded in Plat
2-13 Book 7, Page 7, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
2-14 (E) Shoal Village Section 7, as recorded in Plat
2-15 Book 14, Page 80, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas; and
2-16 (F) Oak Haven Section 3, as recorded in Plat
2-17 Book 11, Page 40, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
2-18 (3) bounded on the east by the centerline of Shoal
2-19 Creek; and
2-20 (4) bounded along the south by Ridgelea, a subdivision
2-21 of record in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Plat Book 4,
2-22 Page 258, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas.
2-23 (c) The committee [commission] shall procure and erect at
2-24 the head of each grave that does not have a permanent monument a
2-25 marble obelisk on which shall be engraved the name of the dead
3-1 buried in the grave.
3-2 (d) [(c)] Persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery
3-3 are:
3-4 (1) a former member of the legislature or a member who
3-5 dies in office;
3-6 (2) a former elective state official or an elective
3-7 state official who dies in office;
3-8 (3) a former state official or a state official who
3-9 dies in office who has been appointed by the governor and confirmed
3-10 by the senate and who served at least 12 years in the office to
3-11 which appointed;
3-12 (4) a person specified by a governor's proclamation,
3-13 subject to review and approval by the committee under Subsection
3-14 (e); [and]
3-15 (5) a person specified by a concurrent resolution
3-16 adopted by the legislature, subject to review and approval by the
3-17 committee under Subsection (e); and
3-18 (6) a person specified by order of the committee under
3-19 Subsection (e).
3-20 (e) The committee shall review proclamations under
3-21 Subsection (d)(4) and resolutions under Subsection (d)(5). A
3-22 person specified in a proclamation or resolution is eligible for
3-23 burial in the State Cemetery only if the committee, following its
3-24 review, finds that the person specified made a significant
3-25 contribution to Texas history and only if, based on that finding,
4-1 the committee approves the person's burial in the cemetery. The
4-2 committee may by order authorize a burial under Subsection (d)(6)
4-3 only during a period in which the legislature is not convened in
4-4 regular or special session and only if the committee finds that the
4-5 person made a significant contribution to Texas history.
4-6 (f) [(d)] Grave spaces are allotted for:
4-7 (1) a person eligible for burial under Subsection (d)
4-8 [(c)];
4-9 (2) the person's spouse; and
4-10 (3) the person's unmarried child, if the child, on
4-11 September 1, 1979, or at the time of the child's death, is a
4-12 resident in a state eleemosynary institution.
4-13 (g) [(e)] A child eligible for burial under Subsection
4-14 (f)(3)[(d)(3)] must be buried alongside the child's parent or
4-15 parents.
4-16 (h) [(f)] A grave plot may not be longer than eight feet nor
4-17 wider than three [five] feet times the number of persons of one
4-18 family authorized to be buried alongside one another.
4-19 (i) The committee shall adopt rules regulating the monuments
4-20 erected in the State Cemetery [(g) A monument or statue may not be
4-21 erected that is taller than a monument or statue that existed in
4-22 the State Cemetery on September 1, 1979].
4-23 (j) [(h)] A tree, shrub, or flower may not be planted in the
4-24 State Cemetery without the committee's [commission's] written
4-25 permission.
5-1 (k) [(i)] A person may be buried on state property only in
5-2 the State Cemetery or in a cemetery maintained by a state
5-3 eleemosynary institution. Other state property, including the
5-4 State Capitol grounds, may not be used as a burial site.
5-5 (l) [(j)] The committee [commission] shall allot and locate
5-6 the necessary number of grave plots authorized on application made
5-7 by:
5-8 (1) the person primarily eligible for burial under
5-9 Subsection (d)[(c)];
5-10 (2) the person's spouse; or
5-11 (3) the executor or administrator of the person's
5-12 estate.
5-13 (m) The committee shall consider for burial in the State
5-14 Cemetery persons who have made significant contributions to Texas
5-15 history and culture in the following fields: air and space,
5-16 agriculture, art and design, business and labor, city building,
5-17 education, industry, justice, oil and gas, performing arts,
5-18 philanthropy, ranching, religion, science and medicine, sports, and
5-19 writing.
5-20 (n) The committee shall consider for reinterment in the
5-21 State Cemetery persons from the following eras: Spanish exploration
5-22 and colonization, Mexican, Texas revolution, republic and
5-23 statehood, Civil War and Reconstruction, frontier, Gilded Age,
5-24 progressive, Great Depression and World War II, postwar, and
5-25 modern.
6-1 (o) The committee shall designate different areas of the
6-2 cemetery for burial of persons from the fields described in
6-3 Subsection (m).
6-4 (p) The committee shall develop plans for obtaining land
6-5 adjacent to the State Cemetery for expansion of the cemetery.
6-6 (q) The committee shall actively pursue plot reservations
6-7 from persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery.
6-8 (r) The committee shall encourage members of the legislature
6-9 to advise constituents who are eligible for burial in the State
6-10 Cemetery.
6-11 SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 2165, Government Code, is
6-12 amended by adding Section 2165.2561 to read as follows:
6-13 Sec. 2165.2561. STATE CEMETERY COMMITTEE. (a) The State
6-14 Cemetery Committee is composed of:
6-15 (1) three voting members appointed as follows:
6-16 (A) one member of the general public appointed
6-17 by the governor;
6-18 (B) one member of the general public appointed
6-19 by the governor from a list submitted by the lieutenant governor;
6-20 and
6-21 (C) one member of the general public appointed
6-22 by the governor from a list submitted by the speaker of the house
6-23 of representatives; and
6-24 (2) three nonvoting advisory members appointed as
6-25 follows:
7-1 (A) one employee of the Texas Historical
7-2 Commission appointed by the executive director of the Texas
7-3 Historical Commission;
7-4 (B) one employee of the General Services
7-5 Commission appointed by the executive director of the General
7-6 Services Commission; and
7-7 (C) one employee of the Parks and Wildlife
7-8 Department appointed by the executive director of the Parks and
7-9 Wildlife Department.
7-10 (b) The governor shall designate the presiding officer of
7-11 the committee from among its members, and the presiding officer
7-12 shall serve in that capacity for two years.
7-13 (c) The members of the committee appointed by the governor
7-14 are appointed for staggered terms of six years with one member's
7-15 term expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year. The advisory
7-16 members of the committee serve at the will of the appointing
7-17 authority.
7-18 (d) Appointments to the committee shall be made without
7-19 regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
7-20 national origin of the appointees.
7-21 (e) A vacancy on the committee is filled by the appointing
7-22 authority in the same manner as the original appointment.
7-23 (f) An employee member vacates the member's position on the
7-24 committee if the member ceases to be an employee of the appointing
7-25 agency.
8-1 (g) A person is not eligible for appointment to the
8-2 committee by the governor if the person or the person's spouse:
8-3 (1) is employed by or participates in the management
8-4 of a business entity or other organization receiving funds from the
8-5 committee;
8-6 (2) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more
8-7 than a 10 percent interest in a business entity or other
8-8 organization receiving funds from the committee; or
8-9 (3) uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
8-10 goods, services, or funds from the committee, other than
8-11 compensation or reimbursement authorized by law for committee
8-12 membership, attendance, or expenses.
8-13 (h) A person may not serve as a member of the committee if
8-14 the person is required to be registered as a lobbyist under Chapter
8-15 305 because of the person's activities for compensation on behalf
8-16 of a profession related to the operation of the State Cemetery.
8-17 (i) A public member of the committee is not entitled to
8-18 compensation but is entitled to reimbursement, from committee
8-19 funds, for the travel expenses incurred by the member while
8-20 conducting the business of the committee, as provided in the
8-21 General Appropriations Act. The entitlement of an employee member
8-22 to compensation or reimbursement for travel expenses is governed by
8-23 the law applying to the person's service in that underlying
8-24 position, and any payments to the person shall be made from the
8-25 appropriate funds of the employing agency.
9-1 (j) The State Cemetery Committee is subject to Chapter 325
9-2 (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by
9-3 that chapter, the committee is abolished and this section expires
9-4 September 1, 2009.
9-5 (k) At the direction of the committee, the General Services
9-6 Commission shall spend money appropriated to or budgeted by the
9-7 agency for State Cemetery purposes.
9-8 (l) Funds appropriated to the General Services Commission
9-9 may be transferred by interagency contract for the performance of,
9-10 at the direction of the committee, an act related to the State
9-11 Cemetery.
9-12 (m) The committee may adopt rules as necessary for the
9-13 administration of the State Cemetery.
9-14 SECTION 3. (a) In addition to the substantive changes made
9-15 by this Act, this Act conforms Section 2165.256, Government Code,
9-16 to Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature, 1995.
9-17 (b) Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
9-18 1995, is repealed.
9-19 (c) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
9-20 another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
9-21 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
9-22 codes.
9-23 SECTION 4. (a) The initial gubernatorial appointments to
9-24 the State Cemetery Committee shall be made so that one member is
9-25 appointed to a term expiring February 1, 1999, one member to a term
10-1 expiring February 1, 2001, and one member to a term expiring
10-2 February 1, 2003.
10-3 (b) Until a majority of the persons appointed by the
10-4 governor under this section assume their positions, the operation
10-5 of the State Cemetery continues to be governed by the law as it
10-6 existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
10-7 prior law is continued in effect for that purpose.
10-8 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
10-9 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
10-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.