Division 5-28. Soldiers' And Sailors' Burial Fund  



 
    (55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-28 heading)
Division 5-28. Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28001)
    Sec. 5-28001. County may procure burial grounds. The county board of each county has power to purchase suitable sites for burial grounds for deceased personnel of the Armed Services of the United States who died in service and for honorably discharged veterans who served in the armed forces of the United States during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, Boxer Uprising in China, World War I, World War II, during the national emergency between June 25, 1950 and January 31, 1955, or any time during the Viet Nam Conflict between January 1, 1961 and May 7, 1975, and their mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, widowers or widows, who may die without having sufficient means to purchase a grave and defray funeral expenses; to establish and maintain suitable headquarters, cemetery buildings, and other auxiliary institutions connected with such burial grounds; and to pay the funeral and burial expenses of such persons and to provide suitable headstones for their graves.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28002) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28002)
    Sec. 5-28002. Petition; tax levy. When one hundred legal voters of any county shall present a petition to the county board of such county, asking that an annual tax may be levied for the establishment and maintenance of a Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund in such county, such county board shall certify the proposition to the proper election officials who shall submit the proposition at the next regular election in such county, in accordance with the general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form: "For the levy of a tax for a Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund," or "Against the levy of a tax for a Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund". If a majority of all the votes cast upon the proposition shall be for the levy of a tax for a soldiers' and sailors' burial fund the county board of such county shall thereafter annually levy a tax of not to exceed one mill on the dollar ($1.00), which tax shall be collected in like manner as other general taxes in such county and shall be paid into the "soldiers' and sailors' burial fund," and thereafter the county board of such county shall annually appropriate from such fund such sums of money as may be deemed necessary to pay the expenses which will be accrued in carrying out the provisions and purposes of this Division.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28003) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28003)
    Sec. 5-28003. Directors. When in any county such proposition for the levy of a tax for a county Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund has been adopted, the chairman of the county board of such county shall, with the approval of the county board, proceed to appoint a board of three directors, all of whom shall be chosen with reference to their special fitness for such office, to have charge of the undertakings and activities contemplated by this Division.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28004) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28004)
    Sec. 5-28004. Terms of office. One of the directors shall hold office for one year, another for two years, and another for three years, from the first day of July following their appointment, but each until his successor is appointed and at their first regular meeting they shall cast for the respective terms. Annually thereafter the presiding officer of the county board, with the advice and consent of the county board, shall, before the first day of July of each year appoint, as before, one director, who shall hold office for three years and until his successor is appointed. The presiding officer of the county board, by and with the consent of the county board may, remove any director for misconduct or neglect of duty.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28005) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28005)
    Sec. 5-28005. Vacancies; compensation. Vacancies in the board of directors occasioned by removal, resignation, or otherwise, shall be reported to the county board and be filled in like manner as original appointments. No director shall receive compensation as such, or be interested, either directly, or indirectly, in the purchase or sale of any property or supplies to be used in carrying out the purpose of this Division.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28006) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28006)
    Sec. 5-28006. Powers and duties. The directors shall, immediately after appointment, meet and organize, by the election of one of their number as president and one as secretary. They shall make and adopt such by-laws, rules and regulations for their own guidance and for the government of the soldiers' and sailors' burial grounds of the county and auxiliary institutions and activities connected therewith, as may be expedient and not inconsistent with this Division. They shall have the exclusive control of the expenditure of all moneys appropriated from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund, and of the laying out of sites for burial purposes, the construction of any cemetery buildings, or other necessary auxiliary institutions and of the activities in connection therewith, and of the supervision, care, and custody of the grounds and buildings. The board of directors shall have the power to purchase or lease ground within the limit of the county, and to occupy, lease or erect appropriate cemetery buildings or other buildings, by and with the approval of the county board. No cemetery site shall be purchased or leased, however, until detailed plans therefor have been submitted to the county board and have been approved by them. The board of directors shall have the power to appoint suitable superintendents, care-takers and all necessary assistants, and to fix their compensation, and shall also have the power to remove such appointees.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28007) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28007)
    Sec. 5-28007. Donations; annual report. The board of directors, in the name of the county, may receive from any person any contribution or donation of money or property and shall pay over to the treasurer of such county for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund all moneys thus received, within one month after they are received and shall take the receipt of the county treasurer therefor; and shall also, at each regular meeting of the county board report to the county board the names of all persons from whom any such contributions or donations have been received, since the date of the last report, and the amount and nature of the property so received from each, and the date when the same was received. The board of directors shall make on or before the second Monday in June of each year, an annual report to the county board, stating the condition of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund on the first day of June of that year, the number of burials, and such other statistics, information and suggestions as they may deem of general interest.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-28008) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-28008)
    Sec. 5-28008. Payment of burial expenses. The board of directors are authorized to pay, out of the money which is appropriated to them from the county Soldiers' and Sailors' Burial Fund, the funeral and burial expenses of persons who come within the description in Section 5-28001, but in no one case shall they pay for such purpose more than $75; and they are authorized to buy and erect suitable headstones on the graves of such persons. But no money shall be expended to pay the funeral and burial expenses of any soldier or sailor who was an inmate of any soldiers' and sailors' home at the time of his death.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)