Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Service Officers

The Department of Veterans Affairs, created in 1923, became a cabinet department in the 2019 transformation. Section 25-43-1601 creates it, and Colonel (Ret.) Robert A. Ator II became its third Secretary on January 1, 2025. Service officers. Section 25-43-1605 lets the Secretary employ veterans service officers, who must themselves be honorably discharged and must help veterans and dependents secure their rights and benefits. The department runs district offices and trains and tests county veterans service officers, who serve at the pleasure of the county judge. Section 20-81-106 has the state pay $1 for every $2 a county spends on its officer, up to $3,600 a year, or $4,800 in a county with more than 2,500 veterans, plus $500 a quarter each for VA accreditation and for access to VA's benefits system. Help with a claim is free. The Arkansas Veterans' Commission. Section 20-81-104: fifteen members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms, advising the Secretary and the General Assembly and liaising with the American Legion, VFW, DAV and the Arkansas Veterans Coalition. Act 34 of 2025 separately created a Joint Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs in the legislature. Veterans in jail. Act 506 of 2025 added sections 12-29-121 and 12-41-111. Within 14 days of anyone being jailed or imprisoned, the facility or the county veterans service officer must check veteran status through VA's Veterans Reentry Search Service. If the person is a veteran likely to be held six months or more, the department must be told within 45 days and again on release, and the facility must give VA and the department reasonable access to help the veteran apply for benefits or for a veterans treatment court. Prosecutors, public defenders and specialty court coordinators can ask for the result. The workplace poster. Act 655 of 2025 added section 11-2-126: the Department of Labor and Licensing, with the Department of Veterans Affairs, must produce a poster on state and federal veterans services, mental health treatment, education and training, tax benefits, the licence designation, unemployment insurance, legal services and the Veterans Crisis Line, and every employer with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees must display it. What did not pass. House Bill 1423 of 2025, which would have barred charging for help with a VA claim except as federal law allows, died in committee. Arkansas has no state law against claim consultants who charge fees. Home Base Arkansas, a department initiative, helps veterans and transitioning members relocating to Arkansas with jobs and resources.