Cass County Veterans Service Office (Gary Foster, Andy Cockrum, Holly Meade)

The office. The Cass County Veterans Service Office, 604 TX Hwy 8 North, Linden, Texas 75563; office 903-756-5221, cell 430-342-5068; [email protected]. The page names Gary Foster, Andy Cockrum and Holly Meade as Veterans Service Officers. On December 9, 2025 Foster, then the assistant officer, introduced Meade to the Commissioners Court as the new Veterans Service Officer; the 2026 minutes call Foster the Veterans Service Officer. TexVet's county list names Thaise Borba-Graham at the same number with [email protected]. The office files VA and State claims under Government Code chapter 434 (see the Texas entry), and it runs the county's Texas Veterans Commission financial assistance and Housing for Texas Heroes grants (see that entry). How the county funds it. General Fund department 560, "Veteran Services Officer", is $64,284 for FY2027: a $42,000 officer's salary (up from $25,000 in FY2026), payroll costs, $2,500 of travel, $750 of software and a $10,000 "AEP Grant" line. FY2026 budgeted $37,213.50; before that the department held only a copier ($759.38 in FY2025), the staff being paid from the grants. The FY2027 revenue budget carries an "AVSO Fiscal Fee" of $62,284 ($22,000 in FY2026). The minutes give the reasons: adopting the FY2025-26 budget on September 9, 2025, the Court changed "the full time Veterans' Service Officer in the budget to a part time position", and at the August 4, 2026 budget hearing Foster asked "to be able to use AVSO fiscal fees to fund a full-time VSO officer with the county supplying $1,500 towards the expense." The year's other office items. On June 9, 2026 the Court took up resolutions to apply for Texas AEP and CenterPoint Energy grants for the office and a budget amendment for it; the June minutes are not posted (see the board entry).