Colorado County Veterans Service Offices

C.R.S. 28-5-801 requires the board of county commissioners of every county to establish a county veterans service office and appoint a county veterans service officer, paid from the county general fund; adjacent counties may share one office. Under 28-5-802 the appointed officer must be a Colorado resident who served and was honorably discharged, is a discharged LGBT veteran, or is an officer released to inactive duty, and serves a two-year term; anyone acting as a claimant's representative must be certified by the State and accredited by VA. Section 28-5-803 makes the officer assist any Colorado resident who is a veteran, or a surviving spouse, administrator, executor, guardian, conservator, heir or other person with a proper claim, with claims for insurance, pension, disability compensation, hospital care, vocational training or any other federal or state benefit arising from service. Section 28-5-804 says the officer must always work in the client's best interest to maximise the federal benefits received. The help is free. Senate Bill 25-282 (2025 Session Laws, chapter 412, effective August 6, 2025) made it a deceptive trade practice for a paid provider helping with a veterans benefits claim to guarantee an outcome, skip the required written contract, or take more than the lesser of $9,200 or 25% of the past-due benefits actually received. The statute text here is FindLaw's edition, current as of January 1, 2025; Senate Bill 25-282 is the only later act this entry has checked.