Sec. 2165.256. STATE CEMETERY AND OTHER BURIAL GROUNDS

(a) The State Cemetery Committee shall oversee all operations of the State Cemetery. The committee shall develop a budget for the operations of the commission relating to the State Cemetery and determine the salary of employees of the commission whose duties primarily relate to the operation of the State Cemetery.

(b) In addition to the property described as Lot No. 5, Division B, City of Austin, Travis County, Texas, the following property is dedicated for cemetery purposes as part of the State Cemetery: BEING 44.07 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF THE GEORGE W. SPEAR LEAGUE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, AND BEING OUT OF AND A PORTION OF THAT CERTAIN TRACT OF LAND DESCRIBED BY DEED TO THE STATE OF TEXAS AS RECORDED IN VOLUME 776, PAGE 225, OF THE DEED RECORDS OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS. SAID 44.07 ACRES OF LAND BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:

BEGINNING at a set brass cap in concrete for the northwest corner of said State of Texas tract, same being the west corner of Lot 34 of Shoal Village, Section Two, a subdivision in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Book 5, Page 150, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas, and being on the east right-of-way line of Bull Creek Road (an existing 60' R/W) and being the northwest corner of this tract;

(1) THENCE S 62 �� 05' 02" E, along the north line of said State of Texas tract of land, same being the south line of said subdivision, a distance of 919.08 feet to a set brass cap in concrete for an angle point in the north line of said State of Texas, tract of land same being an angle point in the south line of Lot 45 of Shoal Village, Section Three, a subdivision of record in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Book 6, Page 71, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;

(2) THENCE along the north line of said State of Texas, tract of land, same being the south line of the following subdivisions in the City of Austin, Texas, said Shoal Village, Section Three, Shoal Village, Sec. 5, as recorded in Plat Book 6, Page 72, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas, Shoal Village, Sec. 6, as recorded in Plat Book 7, Page 7, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas, Shoal Village, Section Seven, as recorded in Plat Book 14, Page 80, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas, Oak Haven, Section Three, as recorded in Book 11, Page 40, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas, the following two (2) courses and distances:

1. S 63 �� 02' 45" E, a distance of 306.61 feet, a 1/2" iron rod found, and

2. S 63 �� 11' 57" E, a distance of 327.57 feet to the point of intersection with the centerline of Shoal Creek for the northeast corner of this tract;

(3) THENCE along the centerline of Shoal Creek with it's meanders, same being the east line of this tract, the following seven (7) courses and distances:

1. S 03 �� 49' 32" E, a distance of 146.37 feet, a 1/2" I. R. set,

2. S 11 �� 51' 40" W, a distance of 68.56 feet, a 1/2" I. R. set,

3. S 17 �� 44' 58" E, a distance of 255.55 feet, a 1/2" I. R. set,

4. S 11 �� 22' 50" W, a distance of 433.59 feet, a 1/2" I. R. set,

5. S 01 �� 30' 40" E, a distance of 208.10 feet, a 1/2" I. R. set,

6. S 03 �� 34' 39" E, a distance of 163.82 feet, a 1/2" I. R. set, and

7. S 12 �� 53' 44" E, a distance of 44.69 feet, to a P. K. nail set in concrete for the southeast corner of this tract;

(4) THENCE N 62 �� 12' 25" W, departing from said Shoal Creek, passing the northeast corner of Lot 24 of Ridgelea, a subdivision in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Book 4, Page 258, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas, at 59.90 feet, a total distance of 414.19 feet to a found 1/2" iron rod under concrete for the most northerly corner of Lot 21 of said Ridgelea subdivision, said point also being a re-entrant corner of this tract;

(5) THENCE S 31 �� 29' 35" W, along the most southerly east line of said State of Texas tract of land, same being the west line of said Ridgelea subdivision, a distance of 715.50 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set for a southwest corner of this tract, from this point the northwest corner of Lot 11, same being the southwest corner of Lot 12, of said Ridgelea subdivision bears N 31 �� 29' 35" E, a distance of 10.64 feet;

(6) THENCE through said State of Texas tract of land the following four (4) courses and distances:

1. N 23 �� 52' 33" W, passing a brass cap in concrete set at 5.00 feet, a total distance of 654.65 feet to a brass cap in concrete set for a corner,

2. N 06 �� 26' 42" E, a distance of 308.11 feet, a brass cap in concrete set for a corner,

3. N 14 �� 01' 31" W, a distance of 894.05 feet, a brass cap in concrete set for a corner, and

4. N 63 �� 17' 00" W, a distance of 478.50 feet to a brass cap set in concrete at the point of intersection with the east right-of-way line of Bull Creek Road, same being the west line of said State of Texas tract of land, and being the most northerly southwest corner of this tract;

(7) THENCE N 26 �� 43' 00" E, along said right-of-way line, a distance of 496.30 feet to the Point of Beginning, and containing 44.07 acres of land, more or less; and

BEING A 2.120 ACRE (92,350 SQUARE FEET) TRACT OF LAND OUT OF THE GEORGE W. SPEAR LEAGUE IN TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS. SAID 2.120 ACRE TRACT OF LAND ALSO BEING OUT OF A 31.12 ACRE TRACT HAVING BEEN CONVEYED TO THE STATE OF TEXAS BY INSTRUMENT OF RECORD IN VOLUME 776, PAGE 225, DEED RECORDS OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS. SAID 2.120 ACRE TRACT BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED BY METES AND BOUNDS AS FOLLOWS:

BEGINNING, at a brass disk in concrete found on the southeasterly right of way line of Bull Creek Road. Said disk also being at the northernmost corner of said 31.12 acre tract and the westernmost corner of a 44.07 acre tract also out of the tract described in volume 776, page 225 for the northernmost corner of the herein described tract;

Thence, S63 �� 17' 00"E, 350.00 feet with the northeasterly line of said 31.12 acre tract and a southwesterly line of said 44.07 acre tract to a 1/2" iron rod set for the easternmost corner of the herein described tract;

Thence, S26 �� 42' 58"W, 205.49 feet with the southeast line of this 2.120 acre tract to a 1/2" iron rod set for the herein described tract, nearby a concrete driveway;

Thence, N82 �� 57' 38"W, 276.95 feet following a concrete driveway to a 1/2" iron rod set for an angle point of the herein described tract;

Thence, N62 �� 30' 47"W, 89.24 feet continuing along a concrete driveway to a 1/2" iron rod set on the southeasterly right of way line of Bull Creek Road and the westernmost corner of the herein described tract;

THENCE, N26 �� 43' 00"E, 297.55 feet with the southeasterly line of Bull Creek Road and the northwesterly line of this 2.120 acre tract to the POINT OF BEGINNING and containing 2.120 acre (92,350 square feet) of land.

(c) The committee shall procure and erect at the head of each grave that does not have a permanent monument a marble obelisk on which shall be engraved the name of the dead buried in the grave.

(d) Persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery are:

(1) a former member of the legislature or a member who dies in office;

(2) a former elective state official or an elective state official who dies in office;

(3) a former state official or a state official who dies in office who has been appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate and who served at least 12 years in the office to which appointed;

(4) a person specified by a governor's proclamation, subject to review and approval by the committee under Subsection (e);

(5) a person specified by a concurrent resolution adopted by the legislature, subject to review and approval by the committee under Subsection (e); and

(6) a person specified by order of the committee under Subsection (e).

(e) The committee shall review proclamations under Subsection (d)(4) and resolutions under Subsection (d)(5). A person specified in a proclamation or resolution is eligible for burial in the State Cemetery only if the committee, following its review, finds that the person specified made a significant contribution to Texas history and only if, based on that finding, the committee approves the person's burial in the cemetery. The committee may by order authorize a burial under Subsection (d)(6) only if the committee finds that the person made a significant contribution to Texas history.

(f) Grave spaces are allotted for:

(1) a person who is eligible or who clearly will be eligible for burial under Subsection (d);

(2) the person's spouse; and

(3) the person's unmarried child of any age, if the child, on September 1, 1979, or at the time of the child's death, because of a long-standing physical or mental condition that was manifest during the lifetime of one of the child's parents, is dependent on another for care or support.

(g) A child eligible for burial under Subsection (f)(3) must be buried alongside the child's parent or parents.

(h) A grave plot may not be longer than eight feet nor wider than three feet times the number of persons of one family authorized to be buried alongside one another.

(i) The committee shall adopt rules regulating the monuments erected in the State Cemetery.

(j) A tree, shrub, or flower may not be planted in the State Cemetery without the committee's written permission.

(k) A person may be buried on state property only in the State Cemetery or in a cemetery maintained by a state eleemosynary institution. Other state property, including the State Capitol grounds, may not be used as a burial site.

(l) The committee shall allot and locate the necessary number of grave plots authorized on application made by:

(1) the person primarily eligible for burial under Subsection (d);

(2) the person's spouse; or

(3) the executor or administrator of the person's estate.

(m) The committee shall consider for burial in the State Cemetery persons who have made significant contributions to Texas history and culture in the following fields: air and space, agriculture, art and design, business and labor, city building, education, industry, justice, military affairs, law enforcement, oil and gas, performing arts, philanthropy, ranching, religion, science and medicine, sports, and writing.

(n) The committee shall consider for reinterment in the State Cemetery persons from the following eras: Spanish exploration and colonization, Mexican, Texas revolution, republic and statehood, Civil War and Reconstruction, frontier, Gilded Age, progressive, Great Depression and World War II, postwar, and modern.

(o) The committee shall designate different areas of the cemetery for burial of persons from the fields described in Subsection (m).

(p) The committee shall develop plans for obtaining land adjacent to the State Cemetery for expansion of the cemetery.

(q) The committee shall actively pursue plot reservations from persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery.

(r) The committee shall encourage members of the legislature to advise constituents who are eligible for burial in the State Cemetery.

(s) The committee may accept a gift, grant, or bequest of money, securities, services, or property to carry out any purpose of the committee, including funds raised or services provided by a volunteer or volunteer group to promote the work of the committee. The committee may participate in the establishment and operation of an affiliated nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise funds for or provide services or other benefits to the committee, and the committee may contract with such an organization for the performance of such activities.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 41, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 17.05(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 264, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 102, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 486, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1422, Sec. 8.01, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 684, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 645 , Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2005.