burialstate

The County Keeps a Permanent Record of Where Every Veteran Is Buried

For every person with a military service record buried or whose cremated remains are placed in the county, the funeral director must transmit the information the department asks for to the county veteran affairs office. The executive director or administrator records it alphabetically and by description of the location in the cemetery, and keeps it as a permanent record.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: A permanent county register of the grave location, kept at no charge to the family

No fee is created or waived by the section, so no figure is claimed. The value is that the location survives — a private cemetery closing or a sexton’s records being lost does not erase where the veteran lies.
The record is keyed two ways, alphabetically and by description of the location in the cemetery, which is what makes it searchable decades later.

Who is entitled to it

The register exists for the veteran and is used by the family afterwards.
You are 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

1The duty is the funeral director’s, not the family’s. §35B.19 charges the county executive director or administrator with securing the information the department of veterans affairs requests, and requires the funeral director in charge of the burial or cremation to transmit it.
2It follows cremated remains as well as a coffin. The section names the place of disposition of cremated remains alongside the cemetery, so a family scattering or interring ashes should still expect the record to be made.
3Ask the funeral director to confirm it was sent. The duty exists in law but nothing in the section notifies the family that it was done, and a missed filing is invisible until somebody goes looking for the grave.
4The register is the place to start when a grave cannot be found: it is recorded alphabetically AND by description of location in the cemetery, and is kept as a permanent record.
5It is the same office to approach about a grave marker, since the county commission of veteran affairs is the body that may furnish one, and about the county relief that can meet a funeral where a veteran died without sufficient means.
6The recording must conform to the department’s directives, so the form and fields can change without the Code changing. Ask the county office which form is current rather than assuming an older one.

Form: No application — the funeral director transmits the information
File with: The county veteran affairs office in the county where burial or disposition takes place
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionTwo nearby sections are commonly cited for grave upkeep and are gone. §35B.17, "Maintenance of graves", was repealed by 2024 Acts, ch 1047, §11, and §35B.18, "Payment — how made", was repealed by 2014 Acts, ch 1116, §54. What survives in this part of the chapter is the RECORD at §35B.19 and the marker at §35B.16 — not a standing statutory duty to maintain the grave itself.

Worth knowingThe trigger is a military service record, not veteran status as a benefit statute would define it. The register is therefore wider than most veteran programmes and is often the only place a service connection is written down after a private cemetery changes hands.

Known gapThe department’s current directive — which fields the funeral director must send and on which form — is issued outside the Code and was not read this session. Whether a county will search the register for a member of the public, and at what charge, is also unverified.

Sources

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