Hamilton County Indigent Veteran Burial and Memorial Day Funds

Ohio requires each county veterans service commission to bury or cremate a veteran, or a veteran's parent, spouse or surviving spouse, who died without the means to pay, with the county paying up to $1,000 (Revised Code 5901.25 to 5901.27; see the Ohio entry). How Hamilton County runs it. The commission's website lists only military honors, flags, memorial certificates, grave marker applications and VA burial allowance claims. Its May 2026 minutes describe the indigent burial practice: the commission reimburses Walker Funeral Home, under a reduced-cost cremation arrangement, up to $1,000 for each indigent veteran, about twice a month, and the board was reviewing an older agreement under which the Board of County Commissioners paid it $25,000 a year toward these costs. The statute gives the choice of funeral director to "the family or friends", with the commission contracting at a fair price, and allows burial in any cemetery but a pauper's ground; a family that wants a burial, or a different funeral home, should ask the commission before signing anything. The duty covers a veteran's spouse, surviving spouse and parent too. Headstone. Section 5901.32 has the county apply for the government headstone and place it at the grave of an indigent veteran. Memorial Day. Revised Code 307.66 has the county pay each chartered veterans organization toward its Memorial Day observance. Hamilton County takes an application and, for money already received, a justification form, both on the commission's Memorial Day page, routed to the Board of County Commissioners (Cheryl Floyd, 513-946-4315).