10 U.S.C. § 7722: Interment and inurnment policy

Summary

The Secretary of the Army, with the Secretary of Defense’s approval, decides who can be buried or have their ashes placed in the national cemeteries. The Army Secretary must make rules for asking for exceptions to those decisions. Before approving any exception, the Army must tell the Senate and House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committees. The Army may allow moving the remains of a deceased spouse, a minor child, or, if the Secretary allows, an unmarried adult child so they can be reburied if the main eligible person will not be buried in the same or next grave. Remains cannot be moved if the main person is missing in action, their remains were not recovered or identified, they were buried at sea, their body was donated to science, or their ashes were scattered with no part buried.

Title 10, §7722

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Eligibility Determinations Generally.—

(1)The Secretary of the Army, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense, shall determine eligibility for interment or inurnment in the Cemeteries.

(2)The Secretary of the Army, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense, shall establish policy and procedures for reviewing and determining requests for exceptions to interment and inurnment eligibility policy, which shall include a requirement, before granting the request for an exception, for notification of the Committees on Armed Services and the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

(b)Removal of Remains.—

Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Army may prescribe under section 7721(d) of this title, the Secretary of the Army may authorize the removal of the remains of a person described in subsection (c) from one of the Cemeteries for re-interment or re-inurnment if, upon the death of the primary person eligible for interment or inurnment in the Cemeteries, the deceased primary eligible person will not be buried in the same or an adjoining grave.

(c)Covered Persons.—

Except as provided in subsection (d), the persons whose remains may be removed pursuant to subsection (b) are the deceased spouse, a minor child, and, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Army, an unmarried adult child of a member eligible for interment or inurnment in the Cemeteries.

(d)Exceptions.—

The remains of a person described in subsection (c) may not be removed from one of the Cemeteries under subsection (b) if the primary person eligible for burial in the Cemeteries is a person—

(1)who is missing in action;

(2)whose remains have not been recovered or identified;

(3)whose remains were buried at sea, whether by the choice of the person or otherwise;

(4)whose remains were donated to science; or

(5)whose remains were cremated and whose ashes were scattered without interment of any portion of the ashes.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 7722 was renumbered section 8892 of this title.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232, § 808(d), renumbered section 4722 of this title as this section. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 7721(d)” for “section 4721(d)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

§7722 Interment and Inurnment Policy

Summary

Title 10, §7722

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Amendments

Citations & Metadata