Georgia legislation · 2025-2026 Regular Session
Georgia HB985: Veterans affairs; revise terms of eligibility for persons to be buried in Georgia veteran cemeteries
Status: Signed into law, May 11, 2026
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to Georgia veterans cemeteries, so as to revise the terms of eligibility for persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries; to provide for a definition; to require an affidavit in certain circumstances; to provide for applicability; to provide for fees; to provide for the Veterans Service Board to have certain discretion; to provide for related matters; to provide for legislative findings; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
What the bill says
To amend Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to Georgia veterans cemeteries, so as to revise the terms of eligibility for persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries; to provide for a definition; to require an affidavit in certain circumstances; to provide for applicability; to provide for fees; to provide for the Veterans Service Board to have certain discretion; to provide for related matters; to provide for legislative findings; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
From the introduced text:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED To amend Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to Georgia veterans cemeteries, so as to revise the terms of eligibility for persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries; to provide for a definition; to require an affidavit in certain circumstances; to provide for applicability; to provide for fees; to provide for the Veterans Service Board to have certain discretion; to provide for related matters; to provide for legislative findings; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that: (1) There were members of a Hmong Laotian special guerilla unit that fought valiantly alongside American troops during the Vietnam War and were Georgians at the time of their death; (2) The federal Hmong Veterans Service Recognition Act of 2018 allows for the remains of these individuals to be buried in national veteran cemeteries and does not prohibit states from passing laws to include such persons in state veteran cemeteries; and H. B. LC 46 1342 (3) Authorizing the burial of the remains of such persons in this state would honor the service of Georgians and their families who served honorably during the Vietnam War. SECTION 2. Part …