House passes veterans memorial location bill

Language in state statute for nearly 100 years could be on the way out.

Sponsored by Rep. Chris Swedzinski (R-Ghent), HF375 would remove restrictions for where a veterans memorial for which a county board contributes funding can be placed.

Passed 125-0 by the House Monday, the bill heads to the Senate where it is sponsored by Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls).

Current statute allows a county board to appropriate funds for memorials to honor veterans that is “to be constructed on the courthouse square, or in a public park at the county seat, or in a cemetery adjacent to the county seat, or elsewhere in the county seat.”

Swedzinski said the impetus for the bill came from American Legion Post 199 in Minneota that would like to create a memorial outside the Lyon County seat.

“The bill before you helps clarify language that was written in 1919 that bars counties from participating in the construction of a memorial for sailors or soldiers outside the county seat,” Swedzinski said. “We simply delete some of the language that talks about that and allows counties, if they choose, to spend money on a war memorial or veterans memorial anywhere in the county they represent.”