To enact section 5902.10 of the Revised Code to require the Department of Veterans Services to contact and assist Gold Star families in the process of having a highway or bridge named in honor of a family member who died while serving in the United States armed forces.

Section 1. That section 5902.10 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5902.10.  (A) "Gold star family" means a family to which both of the following apply:

(1) The family includes a member of the armed forces of the United States who died after the effective date of this section under any circumstances prescribed under 10 U.S.C. 1126; and

(2) The family includes a widow, parent, or next of kin of the person referred to in division (A)(1) of this section who is eligible for the receipt of a gold star lapel button under 10 U.S.C. 1126.

(B) The department of veterans services shall develop and implement a program to assist each Ohio gold star family in the enactment of legislation designating any highway, portion of a highway, or bridge that is part of the state highway system in honor of the member of the gold star family to which division (A)(1) of this section applies.

The program shall include an appropriately respectful means of contacting each such gold star family with information about memorial highway or bridge designations. The department shall assist an interested gold star family in the process of selecting a highway, portion of a highway, or bridge and, on behalf of the gold star family, shall contact the general assembly members representing the gold star family to facilitate the preparation of a bill to designate a highway, portion of a highway, or bridge in honor of the deceased family member who died while serving in the armed forces of the United States.