An Act To Improve the Veterans' Services Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 37-B MRSA §504, sub-§4, ¶H is enacted to read:
H. A person is not eligible for interment under this chapter if the person has been proven to have committed a serious crime, such as murder, a sexual offense or any crime punishable by imprisonment for life. For the purposes of this section, "proven to have committed a serious crime" means that the person was convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of a crime and received a sentence at least as severe as life imprisonment or the person died in the act of committing a crime for which life imprisonment was a possible sentence and the senior law enforcement official investigating the crime certifies in writing that the person died in the act of committing a serious crime for which life imprisonment was a possible sentence.
Sec. 2. 37-B MRSA §509, sub-§2, ¶F, as amended by PL 2005, c. 273, §3, is further amended to read:
F. A civilian employee or military member of the department when in the conduct of official duties; or
Sec. 3. 37-B MRSA §509, sub-§2, ¶G, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 273, §4, is amended to read:
G. The administrator of the Maine Veterans' Home when in the conduct of official duties . ; or
Sec. 4. 37-B MRSA §509, sub-§2, ¶H is enacted to read:
H. An authorized representative of the Department of Labor when in the conduct of official duties.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a person is ineligible for interment in the Maine Veterans' Memorial Cemetery System if that person has been proven to have committed a serious crime, such as murder, a sexual offense or any crime punishable by imprisonment for life. It also allows Department of Labor personnel to access veterans' military service records.