Gadsden County: National Cemetery Check for Indigent and Unclaimed Veterans

Florida counties dispose of indigent and unclaimed dead under section 406.50. Gadsden County's policy is in section 74-108 of its code (Ordinance 2023-002, April 18, 2023), which the Board carried into the year by approving an indigent burial service provider on May 5, 2026 and indigent burial services on August 4, 2026. The veteran check. Before cremation or burial of remains that are unclaimed or require disposal at public expense, "there shall be a reasonable effort to ... Determine whether the deceased person is eligible under 38 C.F.R. § 38.620 for burial in a national cemetery as a veteran of the armed services." The section gives the task to the county's own office: "Gadsden County Veteran Services shall determine if a deceased person is eligible under 38 C.F.R.s. 38.620 for interment at a national cemetery. However, the National Cemetery Administration shall schedule and coordinate the interment of a deceased veteran." The program. A person who died or was found in Gadsden County is eligible for the Gadsden County Indigent Burial Program if unidentified, without the means to pay for final disposition, or unclaimed by next of kin. The county cremates unless the medical examiner or law enforcement requires burial; "All bodies required for burial, unless eligible under 38 C.F.R.s. 38.620 for burial in a national cemetery as a veteran of the armed services, shall be buried on a county owned property." The county does not pay for private funerals and may recover its costs from the estate of someone later found ineligible. For families. A family that cannot pay for a veteran's funeral should call Veteran Services, (850) 875-8661, about VA burial benefits and national cemetery eligibility before asking for the county program.