Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110
§2493 Fisher Houses: Administration as Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentality
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART IV — SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › CHAPTER 147 — COMMISSARIES AND EXCHANGES AND OTHER MORALE, WELFARE, AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES › SUBCHAPTER III — MORALE, WELFARE, AND RECREATION PROGRAMS AND NONAPPROPRIATED FUND INSTRUMENTALITIES › § 2493
Summary
Military departments must run Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites near Army, Air Force, or Navy hospitals as a separate, self-funded government unit (a nonappropriated fund instrumentality). A Fisher House is a temporary place to stay near those hospitals that was built and given by the Zachary and Elizabeth M. Fisher Armed Services Foundation or another donor approved by the service Secretary. The Dover Families of the Fallen facility and Meditation Pavilion count as a Fisher House when they are used for temporary stays. A Fisher Suite is one or more rooms that meet the same location and use rules, were donated or fixed up by an approved donor, and are labeled a Fisher Suite by the service Secretary. “Authorized Fisher House residents” means patients at the nearby hospital, their family members, or others who give similar family support. For the Dover facility it also means the primary next of kin of a service member who dies while overseas, other family members eligible for travel under section 453(f) of title 37, and an escort for those family members. Each military Secretary must set up rules to run this separate fund. They must keep one central fund for operating, fixing, and improving all Fisher Houses and Suites. The Secretary may accept donated money, property, and services and may charge fees for use. All donations and any money from selling donated items must go into that single fund to support the houses and suites. The Secretary may also give base operating support to Fisher Houses.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §2493
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Fisher Houses and Suites Defined.—
In this section: (1)
(2)The term “Fisher House” includes the Fisher House for the Families of the Fallen and Meditation Pavilion at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, so long as such facility is available for residential use on a temporary basis by authorized Fisher House residents.
(3)The term “Fisher Suite” means one or more rooms that—
(A)meet the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1);
(B)are constructed, altered, or repaired and donated by a source described in subparagraph (C) of that paragraph; and
(C)are designated by the Secretary of the military department concerned as a Fisher Suite.
(4)The term “authorized Fisher House residents” means the following:
(A)With respect to a Fisher House described in paragraph (1) that is located in proximity to a health care facility of the Army, the Air Force, or the Navy, the following persons:
(i)Patients of that health care facility.
(ii)Members of the families of such patients.
(iii)Other persons providing the equivalent of familial support for such patients.
(B)With respect to the Fisher House described in paragraph (2), the following persons:
(i)The primary next of kin of a member of the armed forces who dies while located or serving overseas.
(ii)Other family members of the deceased member who are eligible for transportation under section 453(f) of title 37.
(iii)An escort of a family member described in clause (i) or (ii).
(b)Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentality.—
The Secretary of each military department shall administer all Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites associated with facilities of that military department as a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States.
(c)Governance.—
The Secretary of each military department shall establish a system for the governance of the nonappropriated fund instrumentality required by subsection (b) for that military department.
(d)Central Fund.—
The Secretary of each military department shall establish a single fund as the source of funding for the operation, maintenance, and improvement of all Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites of the nonappropriated fund instrumentality required by subsection (b) for that military department.
(e)Acceptance of Contributions; Imposition of Fees.—
(1)The Secretary of a military department may—
(A)accept money, property, and services donated for the support of a Fisher House or Fisher Suite associated with facilities of that military department; and
(B)may impose fees relating to the use of such Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites.
(2)All monetary donations, and the proceeds of the disposal of any other donated property, accepted by the Secretary of a military department under this subsection shall be credited to the fund established under subsection (d) for the Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites associated with facilities of that military department and shall be available to that Secretary to support all such Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites.
(f)Base Operating Support.—
The Secretary of a military department may provide base operating support for Fisher Houses associated with facilities of that military department.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2022—Subsec. (a)(4)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 117–263 substituted “section 453(f)” for “section 481f(d)”. 2015—Subsec. (a)(4)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 114–92 substituted “section 481f(d)” for “section 481f(e)”. 2013—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 112–239. § 652(a)(1), substituted “by authorized Fisher House residents;” for “by patients of that health care facility, members of the families of such patients, and others providing the equivalent of familial support for such patients;”. Subsec. (a)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 112–239, § 652(a)(2)–(4), added pars. (2) and (4) and redesignated former par. (2) as (3). Subsecs. (b), (e), (f). Pub. L. 112–239, § 652(b), struck out “health care” before “facilities” wherever appearing. 2011—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 112–81 struck out subsec. (g), which required submission of annual report describing the operation of Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites associated with military department health care facilities. 2002—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 107–314 amended heading and text of subsec. (f) generally. Prior to amendment text read as follows: “The Secretary of the Navy shall provide base operating support for Fisher Houses associated with health care facilities of the Navy. The level of the support shall be equivalent to the base operating support that the Secretary provides for morale, welfare, and recreation category B community activities (as defined in
Regulations
, prescribed by the Secretary, that govern morale, welfare, and recreation activities associated with Navy installations).” 2000—Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 106–398 added subsec. (f) and redesignated former subsec. (f) as (g).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title IX, § 914(c)(1)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–230, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall be effective as of October 17, 1998, as if included in section 2493 of title 10, United States Code, as enacted by section 906(a) of Public Law 105–261.”
Savings Provision
s for Certain Navy Employees Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title IX, § 914(b)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–230, provided that: “(1) The Secretary of the Navy may continue to employ, and pay out of appropriated funds, any employee of the Navy in the competitive service who, as of
October 17, 1998, was employed by the Navy in a position at a Fisher House administered by the Navy, but only for so long as the employee is continuously employed in that position. “(2) After a person vacates a position in which the person was continued to be employed under the authority of paragraph (1), a person employed in that position shall be employed as an employee of a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States and may not be paid for services in that position out of appropriated funds. “(3) In this subsection:“(A) The term ‘Fisher House’ has the meaning given the term in section 2493(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code. “(B) The term ‘competitive service’ has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code.” [Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title IX, § 914(c)(2)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–230, provided that: “Subsection (b) [set out above] applies with respect to the pay period that includes
October 17, 1998, and subsequent pay periods.” ] Establishment of Funds and Funding Transition Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title IX, § 906(b)–(e), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2095, provided that: “(b) Establishment of Funds.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 1998], the Secretary of each military department shall—“(1) establish the fund required under section 2493(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)); and “(2) close the Fisher House Trust Fund established for that department under section 2221 of such title and transfer the amounts in the closed fund to the newly established fund. “(c) Funding Transition.—(1) Of the amount authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 301(2) [112 Stat. 1960] for operation and maintenance for the Navy, the Secretary of the Navy shall transfer to the fund established by that Secretary under section 2493(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), such amount as that Secretary considers appropriate for establishing in the fund a corpus sufficient for operating Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites associated with health care facilities of the Department of the Navy. “(2) Of the amount authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 301(4) for operation and maintenance for the Air Force, the Secretary of the Air Force shall transfer to the fund established by that Secretary under section 2493(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), such amount as that Secretary considers appropriate for establishing in the fund a corpus sufficient for operating Fisher Houses and Fisher Suites associated with health care facilities of the Department of the Air Force. “(d) Reporting Requirements.—The Secretary of each military department, upon completing the actions required of the Secretary under subsections (b) and (c), shall submit to Congress a report containing—“(1) the certification of that Secretary that those actions have been completed; and “(2) a statement of the amount deposited in the fund established by that Secretary under section 2493(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)). “(e) Availability of Transferred Amounts.—Amounts transferred under subsection (b) or (c) to a fund established under section 2493(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall be available without fiscal year limitation for the purposes for which the fund is established and shall be administered as nonappropriated funds.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 2493
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110