AS Title 26, Chapter 10: Veterans

Article 1. Veterans' Services. Chapter 10. Veterans. Sec. 26.10.010. Regulations. The Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs shall adopt regulations necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Sec. 26.10.020. Veterans service fund. [Repealed, § 12 ch 42 SLA 1997.] Sec. 26.10.030. Acceptance of gifts, donations, and grants. The Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs may receive gifts, donations, and grants from any person or agency. All gifts, donations, and grants shall be used in accordance with the donor's instructions. Sec. 26.10.040. Training in rehabilitation and service work. The Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs may approve expenditures by veterans' organizations and may reimburse them for their expenditures in employing full time service officers, for necessary travel expenses, including travel by service officers outside of the state not more than once each year for purposes of training in veterans' rehabilitation and service work, and for per diem not exceeding that allowed state employees. The department shall limit payments to veterans' organizations to an amount that will fairly compensate them for salaries and expenses paid to their full time service officers in performing rehabilitation work for veterans, including the prosecution of their claims and solution of their problems arising out of military service. This service and assistance shall be given to all veterans and their dependents and to all beneficiaries of any military claim and shall include but not be limited to those services now given by the service departments of the respective organizations. Sec. 26.10.050. Approval of payments. Payment to a veterans' organization shall first be approved by the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs and so far as possible shall be on an equitable basis for rehabilitation work done. Article 2. Miscellaneous Provisions. Sec. 26.10.060. Extension of Universal Military Training and Service Act provisions to Alaska employees. (a) The provisions of 50 U.S.C. 3808 (Military Selective Service Act), as amended, are extended to this state and its political subdivisions. (b) [Repealed, § 19 ch 8 SLA 2023.] Sec. 26.10.065. Disposition of remains of state resident armed forces personnel on duty status. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, if a state resident who is a member of the armed forces has executed the United States Department of Defense Military Record of Emergency Data Form (DD Form 93), or its successor form, to serve as a record of emergency data and, on that form, has designated a person who is authorized to direct the disposition of the member's remains if the member dies while in a duty status as described in 10 U.S.C. 1481, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the person authorized to direct the disposition of remains on the executed form has the right to make the decisions concerning the disposition of the member's remains. (b) If a state resident who is a member of the United States Coast Guard has executed the United States Coast Guard Designation of Beneficiaries and Record of Emergency Data Form (CG-2020D), or its successor form, to serve as a record of emergency data and, on that form, has designated a person who is authorized to direct the disposition of the member's remains if the member dies while in a duty status as described in 10 U.S.C. 1481, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the person authorized to direct the disposition of remains on the executed form has the right to make the decisions concerning the disposition of the member's remains. Sec. 26.10.070. Record of veterans of the armed forces of the United States. (a) A veteran may record without fee the veteran's armed forces report of separation at a recorder's office of the Department of Natural Resources. (b) [Repealed, § 2 ch 25 SLA 2001.] Sec. 26.10.080. Death gratuity. (a) The Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs shall pay, upon application, a death gratuity in the amount of $750 to the surviving spouse of a qualified veteran who was a resident of the state at the time of death. If the veteran has no surviving spouse, the gratuity shall be paid to the personal representative of the veteran. A veteran is qualified under this subsection if the veteran's (1) burial occurred in the state on or after May 13, 1984; or (2) death occurred on or after September 19, 1990. (b) A death gratuity may be paid for a veteran otherwise eligible under (a) of this section even if the veteran died while temporarily absent from the state. (c) The Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs may not pay a death gratuity unless the veteran for whom payment is made received an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions. (d) In this section, (1) “personal representative” includes administrator, executor, special administrator, successor personal representative, and persons who perform substantially the same function under the law governing their status; (2) “veteran” means (A) a person who served in a branch of the armed services of the United States (i) who at the time of entry into the service was a resident of the territory or state, who had been a resident for not less than one year immediately before entry into the service, and who returned to the territory or state within one year after discharge as a resident with the intention of remaining in the territory or state; or (ii) who was a resident of the state for not less than one year immediately preceding the time of death; or (B) a person who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard, the Alaska Army National Guard, the Alaska Air National Guard, or the Alaska Naval Militia, or who served in a reserve unit of the United States armed forces in Alaska if the reserve unit required a minimum of one weekend of duty each month and 15 consecutive days of active duty training each year for not less than three years. Sec. 26.10.085. Persons providing veterans' benefits services; disclosure. (a) A person that provides veterans' benefits services or veterans' benefits appeal services to a veteran or a veteran's dependents, survivors, or personal representative for compensation shall disclose to the veteran or veteran's dependents, survivors, or personal representative that veterans' benefits services and veterans' benefits appeal services are provided at no cost by the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. (b) The disclosure required under (a) of this section must appear on an agreement to provide veterans' benefits services or veterans' benefits appeal services. The veteran or veteran's dependents, survivors, or personal representative shall acknowledge receipt by signing and dating the disclosure, and the person providing the services shall retain a copy of the signed acknowledgment. The adjutant general of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs shall develop the disclosure required under (a) of this section and publish the disclosure on the department's publicly available Internet website. (c) An advertisement for veterans' benefits services or veterans' benefits appeal services must include the disclosure required under (a) of this section, communicated in a clear and conspicuous manner. (d) A person who violates this section shall forfeit compensation and is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each violation. Each day of continuing noncompliance constitutes a separate violation. This subsection does not apply to an owner or employee of a medium in which an advertisement appears or through which an advertisement is disseminated. (e) In this section, (1) “advertisement” means a commercial message in a communications medium that directly or indirectly promotes the solicitation of business, provides information about veterans' benefits services or veterans' benefits appeal services, or promotes a person who offers veterans' benefits services or veterans' benefits appeal services; (2) “veteran” means an individual who (A) served in the (i) armed forces of the United States, including a reserve unit of the United States armed forces; or (ii) Alaska Territorial Guard, the Alaska Army National Guard, the Alaska Air National Guard, or the Alaska Naval Militia; and (B) was separated from service under a condition that was not dishonorable; (3) “veterans' benefits” means a present or future gain or advantage to a veteran or a veteran's dependents, survivors, or personal representative that results from the beneficiary's veteran status; (4) “veterans' benefits appeal services” means services performed to assist a veteran or a veteran's dependents, survivors, or personal representative in appealing a denial of federal or state veterans' benefits; (5) “veterans' benefits services” means services provided to a veteran or a veteran's dependents, survivors, or personal representative to assist the veteran or dependent, survivor, or personal representative in obtaining federal or state veterans' benefits. Sec. 26.10.090. Alaska Territorial Guard veterans included. In this chapter, except where otherwise indicated, “veteran” includes a person who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard.