19-14-108, including but not limited to establishing cemetery

19-14-108, including but not limited to establishing cemetery directors and advisory boards;

(vii) Provide assistance to Wyoming veterans and their families for the filing and processing of veterans' benefits, veterans' healthcare benefits and United States Department of Veterans Affairs disability and pension claims;

(viii) Administer all vehicle licensing and driver's licensing obligations required of the commission pursuant to title 31;

(ix) Maintain and administer the veterans' commission expendable trust fund pursuant to rules and procedures which shall be promulgated by the commission and approved by the military department;

(x) To the extent the employment of an executive director would aid in accomplishing the duties required by this section and benefit Wyoming veterans, appoint or retain an executive director for such period, upon such terms and conditions and for such compensation as the commission may deem appropriate. Any appointment shall be made with the approval of the adjutant general and the governor and shall be subject to the removal authority provided by W.S. 9-1-202. An executive director may hire and supervise such other staff as may be authorized by the commission and shall be administratively supported by the military department;

(xi) Collect, maintain and preserve physically or electronically any military service records of past and present Wyoming national guard personnel and those veterans who have declared Wyoming as their residence upon separation from the military. This shall include any records maintained by the adjutant general pursuant to W.S. 19-7-103(b)(iii) and (xiv) if delegated such responsibility;

(xii) Perform such other and further tasks as are necessary to carry out the duties imposed by this section or as required by the legislature.

19-14-108. Veterans' cemetery; acquisition and maintenance; eligibility for burial.

(a) Military department, with the approval of the veterans' commission, may acquire a site in this state to be used to establish a cemetery for the interment of veterans of the United States armed forces and for qualified family members of eligible veterans. The approval of the local governing body of the county in which the proposed site is located shall be obtained prior to any acquisition of land for this purpose. The department, with the approval of the commission, is empowered to receive any lands granted to the state or any of its political subdivisions. All military cemeteries currently owned by the state of Wyoming shall be operated and controlled by the military department.

(b) The military department shall supervise and control a veterans' cemetery established under this section. All personnel, equipment and support necessary for maintenance and operation of the cemetery shall be included in the budget of the military department. All employees shall be under the state personnel system.

(c) Any veteran who received any discharge, other than a dishonorable discharge, from the armed forces of the United States is eligible for burial in the state veterans' cemetery and any indigent veteran shall be buried in the cemetery without charge except that any funds that are made available from the veteran's administration and the social security burial allowance shall be paid to the cemetery director. Such funds collected shall be applied to the cemetery for capital improvements, operations or maintenance and shall not be paid to the general fund of the state.

(d) Any eligible veteran, qualified family member, or the survivors of an eligible veteran or qualified family member, or a county under W.S. 19-14-101, in the veteran's behalf, may apply for a burial plot in the state veterans' cemetery by submitting a request to the cemetery director on forms supplied by the military department and available from the cemetery director. The department, in consultation with the commission, shall allot available burial plots on a first come, first served basis. There shall be no charge made for any burial plot. There shall be no charge for the interment of any eligible veteran. The director of the Oregon Trail veteran's cemetery shall apply to the veterans administration for payment of any allowable plot or interment allowance.

(e) A spouse or a handicapped or minor child of a veteran who qualifies for burial as provided in subsection (c) of this section may also qualify for burial in the state veterans' cemetery, if the interment of the qualified family member is in the same burial plot as that provided for the veteran and the interment is either above or below the veteran. The department, in consultation with the commission, shall establish a fee schedule which may be adjusted from time to time for burial of family members. The fees shall cover as nearly as practicable the actual costs of interments. The department, in consultation with the commission, may accept the social security burial allowance, if any, of the qualified family member in an amount not to exceed the actual cost of the interment.

19-14-109. Veteran burial teams.

(a) The veteran burial team account is created. Subject to policies and procedures adopted by the veterans' commission, Wyoming veteran burial teams who have contracted with the commission may apply for payment for the performance of military funeral duties not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) per funeral. The commission shall also maintain a list of registered veteran burial teams and provide that list upon request.

(b) Any claim made pursuant to this section shall be made to the veterans' commission. The commission shall review and act upon all claims submitted under subsection (a) of this section no later than June 30 following the calendar year in which expenses were incurred for the claim submitted. If after deducting and paying the commission's administrative expenses in processing claims there are insufficient funds within the veteran burial team account to pay all approved claims, the commission shall prorate reimbursement among all approved claims. Payments authorized through the commission pursuant to this section shall be paid by the state treasurer by warrant issued by the state auditor upon vouchers signed by the state veterans' service officer or his designee.

(c) As used in this section, "veteran burial team" means any group of veterans that the commission has contracted with, pursuant to policies and procedures, to perform military services within the state of Wyoming authorized by the commission during the burial of any decedent who has received any military discharge, other than a dishonorable discharge, from the armed forces of the United States.

19-14-110. Description and declaration of Wyoming veterans' memorial museum.

The lands in Natrona county described as follows are hereby declared to be the Wyoming veterans' memorial museum to be managed by the military department: a parcel of land situate in the NE¼ of the SE¼ and the SE¼ of the NE¼ of Section 20, Township 34 North, Range 80 West, 6th P.M., Natrona County, Wyoming, said parcel being more particularly described as follows: commencing at the southeast corner of said Section 20, monumented by a brass cap; thence N01d27'16"W, a distance of 2597.39 feet to the southeast corner of the parcel monumented by a nail and being the point of beginning; thence S43217'47"W, a distance of 163.93 feet to the southwest corner of the parcel, monumented by a nail; thence N46 42'21"W, a distance of 359.92 feet to the northwest corner of the parcel, monumented by a nail; thence N43417'47"E, a distance of 163.93 feet to the northeast corner of the parcel, monumented by a nail; thence S46142'21"E, a distance of 359.92 feet to the point of beginning, containing 1.35 acres, more or less.  19-14-111. Employment; permissive preference in private employment.

(a) A private employer may grant preference to a veteran in hiring and promotion.

(b) A private employer may grant preference in hiring and promotion to a spouse of a disabled veteran and to a surviving spouse of a deceased veteran.

(c) The granting of a preference based on a person's status under subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall not be considered a discriminatory or unfair employment practice under local or state equal employment opportunity law, provided the granting of the preference is not based in any manner on consideration of a characteristic, attribute or category enumerated in state law as constituting a discriminatory or unfair employment practice.

(d) As used in this section:

(i) "Disabled veteran" means a veteran who has a compensable service connected permanent and total disability certified by the United States veterans administration or by the retirement board of one (1) of the several branches of the armed forces;

(ii) "Veteran" means a member of the armed forces of the United States whose written evidence of separation from the armed forces shows an honorable discharge or the rendition of honorable military service.

19-14-112. Description and declaration of Wyoming national guard museum.

The lands in Laramie county, Wyoming, described as follows are hereby declared to be the Wyoming national guard museum to be managed by the military department: All of Block 8, Replat of Airport Addition to the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming, as shown by the Replat of said Airport Addition on file and of record in the office of the County Clerk and Ex-Officio Register of Deeds, in and for said Laramie County, said replat being filed on October 1, 1935, as No. 287212; LESS the Southerly ten (10) feet of said Block 8, Replat of Airport Addition quitclaimed to the City of Cheyenne by the Wyoming Army National Guard, as filed June 15, 1995, in Book 1400, Page 461, in the records of said Clerk of Laramie County, Wyoming.

19-14-113. Veteran designation on driver's license.

(a) Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, if a person has a veteran designation on their Wyoming driver's license or identification card pursuant to W.S. 31-7-141, any local government entity as defined by W.S. 9-2-3219(a)(vi) shall allow the person to present their Wyoming driver's license or identification card instead of a military form DD 214 as proof of their status as a veteran.

(b) At the request of the military department or if information other than the person's status as a veteran is required, the military department or other local government entity may ask for further documentation including a military form DD 214.

CHAPTER 15 - CIVIL AIR PATROL

19-15-101. Civil air patrol; authorization of expenditure of state funds.

(a) The department may expend state funds for the purchase of:

(i) Civil air patrol aviation education training aids;

(ii) Books and equipment;

(iii) Maintenance and hangar rents of "on-loan" United States air force aircraft; and

(iv) Maintenance supplies and equipment for a communications network for the civil air patrol.

(b) The department may expend state funds for administrative costs of the civil air patrol.

19-15-102. Approval of purchase order.

No expenditure of state funds shall be made unless a purchase order is approved by the department. Funds are under the control of the department.  19-15-103. Repealed By Laws 2005, ch. 32, § 2.

CHAPTER 16 - EMERGENCY SEARCH AND RESCUE

19-16-101. Emergency authority to supervise air search and rescue.

If requested by a county sheriff or his designee, the military department may, under the supervision of the requesting sheriff or his designee, coordinate the air search and rescue of persons and aircraft made necessary by any emergency or disaster.