Burleigh County Veterans Service Office

Burleigh County's Veterans Service Office is at 221 North 5th Street, P.O. Box 5518, Bismarck, ND 58506-5518, phone (701) 222-6698, fax (701) 222-6420, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. The Veterans Service Officer is Chris Berglund, nationally accredited, whose promotion from deputy took effect November 9, 2025 when Mark Landis retired after twenty-two years; the county's own history page records the line of office back to 1945. The Veterans Benefits Specialist is Chad Smestad, also nationally accredited. Section 37-14-18 requires the county to employ a veterans' service officer, and the office's stated mission is "to advise veterans, family members, and survivors of available benefit programs and assist with claims and applications for veterans benefits and services". Nothing on the office's pages names a fee. The office's own list of what it assists with: federal disability compensation, education and training, medical care, home loans, burial benefits, survivor benefits, government life insurance, veterans preference in employment and transportation to VA medical appointments; and state and local programs - veterans aid loans, hardship assistance grants, property tax relief, the veterans cemetery and home, disabled veteran license plates, state park discounts, tuition waiver and the wartime bonus - plus referrals. The county's about page notes that in fiscal year 2024 VA spent more than $70 million in the county, "more than $34 million in disability income ... paid to county residents". The van. The office runs volunteer-driven vans to the Fargo VA Medical Center, free of charge, for passengers who can board unassisted; reserve a seat at (701) 222-6698. The office publishes the year's van schedule and lists fee-based local alternatives (West River Transit, Bis-Man Transit). The budget. At the October 6, 2025 final budget hearing the commission voted to lower the veterans services levy by $50,000 and increase the county agent levy by the same amount, and to spend $1,128.20 from the courthouse maintenance fund, on top of $4,514 in donations, to set a flagpole behind the veterans monument on the courthouse lawn. The 2026 appropriation for veteran services is $400,690. A deputy veterans service officer position discussed in January 2026 had not been opened as of the board's special meeting of January 29, 2026, pending a review with the new officer. Discharge papers. The county's site has no discharge-recording page, so the standing answer is the state's: file a copy of the DD 214 with the county courthouse at no charge, and a certified copy for a benefits claim is free under Section 37-01-36. The county recorder is Missy Hanson, (701) 222-6749, at the same 221 North 5th Street address.