45.60 Military funeral honors. (1) PROGRAM. (a) The department shall administer a program to coordinate the provision of military funeral honors in this state to all of the following: 1. Military personnel on active duty. 2. Former military members who served on active duty and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. 3. Members of the selective service. 4. Former members of the selected reserve and national guard who served at least one term of enlistment or period of initial obligated service and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. 5. Former members of the selected reserve or national guard who were discharged due to a service-connected disability or for a disability subsequently adjudicated to have been serviceconnected. (b) Military funeral honors may be provided by local units of
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member organizations of the council, by local units of veterans organizations certified by the department to provide military funeral honors, by members of the Wisconsin national guard activated under s. 321.04 (2) (e), or by staff of the department. (2) STIPENDS. From the appropriation under s. 20.485 (2) (sm), the department shall reimburse a local unit of a member organization of the council or a local unit of a veterans organization certified by the department to provide military funeral honors for the costs of providing military funeral honors in this state to a person described in sub. (1). The reimbursement may not exceed $50 for each funeral for which military honors are provided. (3) TUITION VOUCHER. (a) The department shall create a tuition voucher form to be used by funeral directors under par. (b). The department shall distribute copies of the tuition voucher form, plus an explanation of the form’s use, to every operator of a funeral establishment. The department may not charge a fee for the tuition voucher form or for the distribution of the form. (b) A funeral director may issue a tuition voucher in the amount of $25 to an individual who sounds “Taps” on a bugle, trumpet, or cornet during each funeral for which military honors are held in this state for a person described in sub. (1) and who is a student in grades 6 to 12 or at an institution of higher education, as defined under s. 895.515 (1) (b). The tuition voucher may be used at any time for the payment of tuition and required program activity fees at a University of Wisconsin System institution as provided under s. 36.27 (3r) or a technical college as provided under s. 38.24 (6). The department shall encourage private institutions of higher education to accept the vouchers. The vouchers are not transferable. History: 2005 a. 22, 25; 2007 a. 200; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 55; 2025 a. 138. Cross-reference: See also ch. VA 17, Wis. adm. code.
45.61
Wisconsin veterans cemeteries. (1) CONSTRUCSubject to authorization under ss. 13.48 (10) and 20.924 (1), the department may construct and operate veterans cemeteries in central, northwestern, and southeastern Wisconsin and may employ any personnel that are necessary for the proper management of the cemeteries. The cemetery in central Wisconsin is the Central Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery in southeastern Wisconsin is the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery in northwestern Wisconsin is the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The department may acquire, by gift, purchase, or condemnation, lands necessary for the purposes of the cemeteries. Title to the properties shall be taken in the name of this state. Every deed of conveyance shall be immediately recorded in the office of the proper register of deeds and thereafter filed with the secretary of state. The department may accept for the state all gifts, grants, and bequests for the purposes of maintenance, restoration, preservation, and rehabilitation of the veterans cemeteries constructed under this subsection. All cemeteries operated by the department are exempt from the requirements of ss. 157.061 to 157.70 and 440.90 to 440.95. (2) ELIGIBILITY. The following persons are eligible for burial at a cemetery constructed and operated under sub. (1): (a) A person who died while on active duty or who was discharged or released from active duty in the U.S. armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable and his or her dependent child and surviving spouse. (c) 1. The spouse or dependent child of a person who is serving on active duty at the time of the spouse’s or dependent child’s death. 2. The spouse of a person who was discharged or released from active duty in the U.S. armed forces under honorable conditions. (d) A person who served in a national guard or a reserve comTION AND OPERATION OF CEMETERIES.
May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26)
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Updated 23-24 Wis. Stats.
ponent of the U.S. armed forces, and the person’s spouse, surviving spouse, and dependent children, if the person is eligible for burial in a national cemetery under 38 USC 2402. (f) A person who is a member of a veterans home under s. 45.50. (2m) UNCLAIMED CREMATED REMAINS OF VETERANS. (a) 1. A funeral director, cemetery authority, or public officer having custody of unclaimed cremated remains shall, if the cremated remains are not claimed within 90 days after the date of cremation, contact the department, a county veterans service officer, or a local veterans service organization to determine whether the cremated remains are of a person described under sub. (2). 2. If the department, county veterans service officer, or local veterans service organization determines that the cremated remains are of a person described under sub. (2), the funeral director, cemetery authority, or public officer may transfer the cremated remains to the department for burial under this section. (b) A funeral director, cemetery authority, or public officer who transfers cremated remains to the department under par. (a) 2., and, if different from the funeral director, the owner or operator of the funeral establishment, is immune from civil liability for any injury resulting from that act unless the act constitutes gross negligence or involves reckless, wanton, or intentional misconduct. (3) FEES AND COSTS. The department may charge a fee for burials under this section and may promulgate rules for the assessment of any fee. The cost of preparing the grave and the erection of a marker for a person described under sub. (2) (a) or (d) shall be paid from the appropriation under s. 20.485 (1) (gk). (4) APPLICATION. (a) Application for burial shall be made to the department. The surviving spouse of the person described under sub. (2) (a) or (d), if that person is interred at the Central Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, shall have the privilege of selecting a plot next to that person if available. The department shall hold the plot for the surviving spouse for a period of one year from the date of granting the privilege, but may extend the hold, on request, for additional one-year periods. (b) In processing applications for burial plots, the department shall maintain a waiting list for each of the cemeteries operated under sub. (1) and shall give priority to state residents on each waiting list. (5) EXPENSES. Expenses incident to the burial under this section of persons described in sub. (2) shall be paid from the estate of the decedent, except that if there is no estate or the estate is insufficient, the expense of burial, or necessary part of the burial, shall be paid from the appropriation accounts under s. 20.485 (4) (g), (m), or (q) or, for members of veterans homes, from the appropriation account under s. 20.485 (1) (gk). The amount expended for those expenses under this subsection may not exceed the amount established for funeral and burial expenses under s. 49.785 (1) (b). History: 2005 a. 22; 2007 a. 20; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 382; 2023 a. 206; 2025 a. 138. Cross-reference: See also ch. VA 14, Wis. adm. code.