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A County Soldiers’ Rest — Free Ground for the Veteran and the Spouse

Where a county board has bought and designated a soldiers’ rest, the ground must be used for veterans and spouses of veterans without charge for space — and charging for a lot in one is a misdemeanour.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Where a county board has bought and designated a soldiers’ rest, the ground must be used for veterans and spouses of veterans without charge for space — and charging for a lot in one is a misdemeanour.

What it's worth: No charge for the burial space, where your county keeps a soldiers’ rest

  • The statute forbids a charge for space in a soldiers’ rest. It says nothing about the cost of a casket, a vault, a marker or the funeral itself, so the saving is the plot and no more.
  • The weight stands for what a burial space commonly costs when bought privately. It is a stand-in, not a figure Minnesota publishes.
  • A county may also appropriate money for opening and closing graves in its soldiers’ rest. Whether yours does is a county question, so we do not fold that into the value.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran, or the spouse of a veteran.
  • Your home is in Minnesota.

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

  1. 1Ask the county whether it actually has one. Minn. Stat. §375.36 says a county board MAY purchase a plot to be designated and used exclusively as a soldiers’ rest — it is a power, not a duty, and not every county has exercised it.
  2. 2If your county has one, the space itself is free: §375.37 requires the ground to be used for deceased veterans, as defined in §197.447, and spouses of veterans without charge for space in it.
  3. 3Ask who issues the permit. The county board may appoint an agent, who must be a veteran, to care for the ground and issue burial permits for it.
  4. 4If anyone quotes you a price for the lot, say so plainly — §375.38 makes it a misdemeanour to make a charge for a burial lot in a soldiers’ rest, except as §375.37 provides.
  5. 5Ask separately whether the county appropriates for opening and closing graves. §375.36 permits that appropriation, and it is the cost most families are surprised by.
  6. 6If you live in Ramsey County, ask a different question — §375.36 does not apply there, and the soldiers’ rest duties for that county sit in Minn. Stat. §383A.18.
File with
Your county veterans service officer, or the veteran agent who issues burial permits for the soldiers’ rest
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe free-space rule names veterans and spouses of veterans. It does not name children or other dependants, which is narrower than the family eligibility a state veterans cemetery applies — so do not assume a soldiers’ rest will take the whole family.
Worth knowingRamsey County is carved out of §375.36 by name. If that is your county, the soldiers’ rest arrangements are governed separately, and the county is the right place to ask.
Known gapWhich of Minnesota’s 87 counties actually maintain a soldiers’ rest is not published in the statute and is not researched in this corpus. The statute tells you what the rules are if one exists; only the county can tell you whether one does.

Sources

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