burialstate

Who the State Cemeteries Will Take — the Service Test, and a Guard Route the Federal Rules Do Not Have

This record covers eligibility only. Five state veterans cemeteries take veterans on a service test the department publishes: one day of active duty, not active duty for training, before 7 September 1980 for enlisted service and 16 October 1981 for an officer — or two consecutive years after those dates — with a discharge under honorable conditions. Separately, a state burial benefit lets a serving Louisiana National Guard member or drilling reservist be interred with a spouse, if they were resident here at death. For the cemeteries themselves and what interment costs, see the state veterans cemeteries record.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Interment at one of five state cemeteries, with a VA headstone or marker and perpetual grounds care at no cost to the family

No figure is claimed here. This record is about who gets in and what is provided; the money question — veteran free, spouse and dependent child charged the federal VA plot allowance — sits on the separate cemeteries record.
The department’s wording is "discharged under honorable conditions". Whether a general discharge under honorable conditions satisfies it in a particular case is a question for the cemetery, not something to assume either way.
Perpetual grounds care is stated to be at no cost to the family, and headstones or markers are provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rather than bought.

Who is entitled to it

The cemeteries take the veteran, and spouses and dependent children alongside them.
Your discharge meets the department’s test.
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

1Check the service test before anything else, because it is stricter than the usual summary. A veteran needs one day of active duty — NOT active duty for training — before 7 September 1980 if enlisted, or before 16 October 1981 if an officer. After those dates the requirement is two consecutive years.
2Three other routes are published alongside it: a reservist called up to active duty under Title 10, a person retired from the military, and any veteran who was VA service connected. Each still needs the discharge under honorable conditions.
3The state burial benefit is the route most people miss. A service member of the Louisiana National Guard, or of a drilling reserve component, may be interred WITH A SPOUSE if the member was a Louisiana resident at the time of death and received a discharge under honorable conditions. That is a state addition and it does not depend on the active-duty service test above.
4Do the pre-need application if there is any doubt. It settles eligibility in advance, uses only the parts of the form that bear on eligibility, and the department is explicit that it is not a requirement for burial.
5After a death, who files depends on the type of interment. For a casketed burial the funeral home completes the burial application and must be named as the scheduling contact; for a cremation the family or the funeral home may do it.
6One disqualification is asked about on the form directly: a conviction of a crime for which the punishment could be life imprisonment.
7Know what the cemetery does and does not do. Funerals are not held at the cemetery, and the department’s own form states that the funeral home is responsible for requesting military honours and for providing the burial flag.
8Expect a shared marker. The veteran and spouse share one — on an upright headstone the spouse’s information goes on the back, and on every other marker type it is listed below the veteran’s.
9Choose the service option deliberately. The cemeteries schedule staff against the option you pick, and the choices include a committal service with honours and a committal shelter.

Form: Pre-need application (before death) or burial application (after death) — online, or a fillable PDF by email or post
File with: The chosen state veterans cemetery, or the Department of Veterans Affairs on (225) 219-5000
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThe widely repeated line is that any honorably discharged veteran can be buried in a state veterans cemetery here. The department publishes a real service floor and it excludes people: active duty for training does not count at all, and service beginning after 7 September 1980 (enlisted) or 16 October 1981 (officer) needs TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS. A veteran with a short post-1980 enlistment and no Title 10 call-up, no retirement and no service connection does not meet the published test.

CorrectionMilitary honours are not arranged by the cemetery. The department’s own burial form states that no funerals are held at the cemetery, and that the funeral home is responsible for requesting military honours and for providing the burial flag. A family that assumes the cemetery organises the detail can arrive without one.

Worth knowingThe state burial benefit for a Louisiana National Guard member or a drilling reservist is doing specific work: it lets a currently serving member with no qualifying federal active duty be interred with a spouse, on residency at death plus an honorable discharge. It is the reason a Guard family should ask rather than assume they are outside the system.

Known gapNo statute is cited because none could be read. legis.la.gov does not answer from here — a public resolver returns an address for the www host but a connection to it times out — so the statutory basis for the cemeteries, for the Guard burial benefit and for the fee treatment is unverified, and the eligibility dates rest entirely on the department’s own page.

Sources

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