36 USC § 200303 - Membership

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t36/s200303"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "36 USC § 200303 - Membership"
title_number: 36
title_name: "PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS"
section_number: "200303"
section_name: "Membership"
chapter_number: 2003
chapter_name: "SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR"
part_number: "B"
part_name: "Organizations"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1453.)"
---


# § 200303. Membership

**(a)** **General.—** Except as provided in this chapter, eligibility for membership in the corporation and the rights, privileges, and designation of classes of members are as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation.

**(b)** **Required Service.—** Eligibility for membership in the corporation is limited to male blood relatives of an individual who—

**(1)** served at any time during the period from April 12, 1861, through April 9, 1865, as a soldier or sailor in—

**(A)** the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue-Cutter Service; or

**(B)** a State regiment that was called into active service and was subject to orders of United States general officers during that period; and

**(2)** was discharged honorably from, or died in, that service.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1453.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 200303 | 36:535. | Aug. 20, 1954, ch. 774, § 5, 68 Stat. 750. |

In subsection (a), the words “are as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation” are substituted for “shall . . . be determined as the constitution and bylaws of the corporation may provide” for consistency in the revised title.

In subsection (b)(1), the words “at any time” are added for clarity.