burialstate

State Veterans Cemeteries — Free for the Veteran, $807 for a Spouse

Two state veterans cemeteries, at North Little Rock and Birdeye. Interment costs an eligible veteran nothing; a spouse or qualified dependent is charged $807, and the department asks for it at pre-registration.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No cost to inter an eligible veteran; $807 for a spouse or qualified dependent

The department publishes no cost for interment of a veteran, and $807 for spouses and qualified dependents.
Service length is gated by date of entry: someone who enlisted after 7 September 1980, or was commissioned after 16 October 1981, must have served at least 24 continuous months.
A National Guard or Reserve member qualifies if retired at age 60, or called to active duty for two years or more excluding training, or if they die under honorable conditions while on active duty.
An active duty service member who dies on duty is eligible.
Spouses and unmarried children under 21 — or under 23 if enrolled in school — may be buried, as may a life-long dependent of a veteran.

Who is entitled to it

The department’s test is discharge under conditions other than dishonorable, which both characterisations meet.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Pre-register rather than leaving it to the time of need, and budget for the family fee up front — the department asks for the $807 at pre-registration where a spouse or dependent is being qualified.
2Submit the veteran’s DD-214 discharge papers with the signed cemetery pre-eligibility application.
3Include a marriage licence where a spouse is being pre-qualified.
4Check the 24-month service rule against your own dates before assuming eligibility — it applies to enlistments after 7 September 1980 and commissions after 16 October 1981.
5The cemetery office is on 501-683-2259.

Form: Cemetery pre-eligibility application
File with: Department of Veteran Affairs, cemetery office
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

Worth knowingThe family fee is charged before the need arises. Most state cemeteries in this corpus collect a spouse or dependent fee on the day of interment; here the department asks for the $807 with the pre-eligibility application.

Worth knowingTwo cemeteries, not one. North Little Rock is the older and larger site; Birdeye serves the east of the state, and a family in the delta should not assume North Little Rock is the only option.

Known gapNo residency requirement is published on the page read here. Several state cemeteries gate on residency and this page does not mention one either way.

Known gapNo emergency financial assistance fund run by this state was confirmed this session. Search-level material describes one, but no departmental page or statute stating its terms was reachable, so nothing about it is published here.

Sources

authority · published policyDepartment of Veteran Affairs — Veteran Cemeteries (eligibility, fees and pre-registration)

Why only one source type: The department’s cemeteries page carries the locations, the eligibility classes, the service-length rule, the fee for family interments and the pre-registration requirements. The state veterans cemetery system statute was not read alongside it — the legislature’s host refuses every tool available this session.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.