§ 38.600 Definitions.

(a) The following definitions apply to this part:

Appropriate State official

means a State attorney general or other official with statewide responsibility for law enforcement or penal functions.

Clear and convincing evidence

means that degree of proof which produces in the mind of the fact-finder a firm belief regarding the question at issue.

Convicted

means a finding of guilt by a judgment or verdict or based on a plea of guilty, by a Federal or State criminal court.

Federal capital crime

means an offense under Federal law for which a sentence of imprisonment for life or the death penalty may be imposed.

Interment

means the burial or entombment of casketed or cremated remains, including the placement of cremated remains in a columbarium niche.

Life imprisonment

means a sentence of a Federal or State criminal court directing confinement in a penal institution for life.

Memorialization

means any action taken to honor the memory of a deceased individual.

Personal representative

means a family member or other individual who has identified himself or herself to the National Cemetery Administration as the person responsible for making decisions concerning the interment of the remains of or memorialization of a deceased individual.

State capital crime

means, under State law, the willful, deliberate, or premeditated unlawful killing of another human being for which a sentence of imprisonment for life or the death penalty may be imposed.

(b) Other terms not defined in paragraph (a) of this section may be defined within and be applicable to other sections throughout this part.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 2404, 2411)

[86 FR 43097, Aug. 6, 2021; 86 FR 47387, Aug. 25, 2021, as amended at 89 FR 40391, May 10, 2024]