Burial Eligibility

The rules and regulations of the Texas State Cemetery are set out by the Texas Administrative Code, Title 13, Part 5, Chapter 71. 

The Cemetery’s governing statute, Texas Government Code, Chapter 2165, Section 256, subsections d and e, states that persons eligible for burial in the Texas State Cemetery are:

1. a former member of the legislature or a member who dies in office;
2. a former elective state official or an elective state official who dies in office;
3. a former state official or a state official who dies in office who has been appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate and who served at least 10 years in the office to which appointed;
4. a person specified by a governor's proclamation, subject to review and approval by the committee;
5. a person specified by a concurrent resolution adopted by the legislature, subject to review and approval by the committee; and
6. a person specified by order of the committee, only if the committee finds that the person made a significant contribution to Texas history and culture in the following fields: air and space, agriculture, art and design, business and labor, city building, education, governmental service, industry, justice, military affairs, law enforcement, oil and gas, performing arts, philanthropy, public administration, ranching, religion, science and medicine, sports, and writing.

In addition to the eligible person, their spouse is eligible for plots and the person's unmarried child of any age, if the child, on September 1, 1979, or at the time of the child's death, because of a long-standing physical or mental condition that was manifest during the lifetime of one of the child's parents, is dependent on another for care or support.