PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 402 PRINTER'S NO. 980
No. 399 Session of 1975
INTRODUCED BY NOLAN, SCANLON AND NOSZKA, MARCH 10, 1975
SENATOR MURPHY, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AS AMENDED, JUNE 24, 1975
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 28, 1953 (P.L.723, No.230), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act relating to counties of the second class
3 and second class A; amending, revising, consolidating and
4 changing the laws relating thereto," further regulating the
5 use of markers for the graves of deceased service persons.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section SUBSECTION (F) OF SECTION 2113, act of <--
9 July 28, 1953 (P.L.723, No.230), known as the "Second Class
10 County Code," amended July 8, 1957 (P.L.578, No.320), and May 3, <--
11 1965 (P.L.27, No.25), is amended to read:
12 Section 2113. Markers on Graves; Headstones.--(a) The <--
13 county commissioners of the county shall from time to time, as
14 they consider expedient, procure appropriate markers for the
15 graves of deceased service persons. [Such markers shall be of
16 cast bronze, but no board of commissioners shall be required to
17 discard any markers of other materials already purchased,
18 whether or not already installed. No new markers shall in the
19 future be purchased of metal other than cast bronze. Suitable
20 nonmetal substitutes may be used during periods of national
1 emergency, so proclaimed by the President of the United States,
2 when all available metals are required for war materials.
3 (b) The county commissioners shall procure bronze markers
4 from some manufacturer or manufacturers engaged in the
5 manufacturing of the same, and in the contract for the
6 furnishing thereof the manufacturer furnishing the bronze
7 markers shall warrant that the same are made of the following
8 metals and in the following proportions: copper, eighty-five per
9 centum; tin, five per centum; zinc, five per centum; and lead,
10 five per centum.
11 (c) The manufacturer shall be liable to the county to an
12 amount equal to the sum paid to him by the county for the
13 markers if the above proportions of metals are not contained in
14 the markers.
15 (d) Nothing, except actual fraud on the part of the county
16 commissioners, shall render them liable for any amount if it is
17 established that the markers are not composed of the metals in
18 the proportions above recited.
19 (e) No officer, trustee, association, corporation or person
20 in control of any cemetery or a public burying ground shall have
21 the right to question the composition of such bronze markers, or
22 to require that any of them be chemically analyzed before being
23 placed in the cemetery, or under any circumstances to refuse to
24 permit the erection thereof in the cemetery or public burying
25 ground, or to charge for making the foundations for the same
26 more than is charged for making similar foundations of the same
27 proportions. Any person who violates any of the provisions of
28 this subsection shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary
29 proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than ten
30 dollars ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each
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1 offense.
2 * * *
3 (f)] (b) The county commissioners of the county are hereby <--
4 authorized and directed to place a marker upon the grave of each
5 deceased service person who, at the time of his or her death,
6 had his or her legal residence in the county, whether or not he
7 or she died in the county and whether or not he or she was
8 buried in the county, and upon the grave of each deceased
9 service person buried in the county who, at the time of his or
10 her death, did not have a legal residence within this
11 Commonwealth. When such deceased service person shall have been
12 a veteran of any war or campaign for which the Government of the
13 United States issued discharge buttons, the markers designated
14 for their graves shall include a facsimile of said discharge
15 button. WHEN SUCH MARKERS ARE UPRIGHT FLAG HOLDERS THEY SHALL <--
16 CONSIST OF CAST BRONZE OR ANY OTHER WEATHER RESISTANT MATERIAL.
17 When such deceased service person shall have been a veteran of
18 the Korean Conflict, the markers designated for their graves
19 shall include a circular emblem with the words "Korea, U.S.,
20 1950-1953" in the border thereof, and shall incorporate the
21 insignia of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast
22 Guard, in the form approved by the Veterans' Commission.
23 [(g)] (c) It shall be the duty of the county commissioners <--
24 of the county upon or at any time subsequent to the death of any
25 deceased service person who, at the time of his or her death,
26 had his or her legal residence in the county, on application as
27 hereinafter provided, to cause a headstone or [bronze] memorial
28 tablet to be placed at the head of or on the grave of each such
29 deceased service person.
30 [(h)] (d) Each headstone shall contain his or her name and
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1 the rank and organization to which he or she belonged or in
2 which he or she served, in letters raised or cut in at least
3 three-sixteenths of an inch deep. The headstone shall be of
4 either marble or granite and shall be placed or set in a
5 concrete base at least three feet deep, or if a headstone has
6 been provided for such grave by the United States Government,
7 the county commissioners shall provide the concrete base
8 therefor, or if lettering only on an existing memorial is
9 desired by the family, the county commissioners shall provide
10 such lettering.
11 [(i)] (e) In the event the body of any deceased service
12 person either cannot or will not be returned to the United
13 States of America, it shall be the duty of the county
14 commissioners to cause a headstone to be placed in the family
15 plot of such deceased service person. Said headstone shall have
16 inscribed therein: (1) the name, rank and organization of such
17 deceased service person; (2) the name of the country, location
18 or manner in which such person lost his or her life; and (3) the
19 cemetery or location in which the body, if buried, was finally
20 laid to rest. Application therefor shall in each case be made on
21 forms prescribed by the Department of Military Affairs, and may
22 be made by any relative of the deceased service person, or by a
23 friend if there is no objection by the nearest relative. Each
24 application must be approved by an organization of veterans of
25 any war in which the United States has been, is now, or shall
26 hereafter be engaged.
27 [(j)] (f) The expense in each case shall be borne by the
28 county in which the deceased service person had his or her legal
29 residence at the time of his or her death, whether or not he or
30 she died in the county and whether or not he or she was buried
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1 in the county. The expense shall not exceed the sum of one
2 hundred dollars ($100) for each headstone or concrete base or
3 lettering or [bronze] memorial tablet, and the county
4 commissioners of the county, acting under this section, shall
5 cause to be drawn a warrant on the treasury of the county for
6 the payment of said expense in favor of the party or parties
7 furnishing such headstone or concrete base or lettering or
8 [bronze] memorial tablet.
9 [(k)] (g) In cases of dispute concerning the legal residence
10 of a deceased service person, the county in which a deceased
11 service person is buried shall perform the duties hereinbefore
12 set forth. No such payment or payments shall be made unless the
13 application therefor shall be approved, before the commencement
14 of the project, by the county commissioners.
15 [(l)] (h) Any person who shall wilfully, maliciously or
16 carelessly destroy, mutilate, remove or deface any grave marker
17 or headstone placed or erected under the provisions of this
18 section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
19 thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed five
20 hundred dollars ($500) or suffer imprisonment not to exceed two
21 years, or both.
22 * * *
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