Dawson County Veterans Service Office (also serving Frontier County)

The office. The Dawson County Veterans Service Office is in the north-west corner of the courthouse's lower level, 700 N. Washington, Room V, Lexington, NE 68850, phone 308-324-3041, [email protected], open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (the State's directory, updated October 26, 2026, adds a noon-to-1 closing). The Veterans Service Officer is Steve Zerr, with assistant Mark Wigstone. The county's page says the office provides "immediate emergency financial needs and initiate[s] and complete[s] claims to be submitted to the VA Regional Office or appropriate agencies", assists "qualifying Veterans with County, State and Federal benefits", and that "Hunting and Fishing Permits are available for 64 and older for $5.00 in this office" - the State's permit (see the Nebraska entry). Who appoints the officer. The page says the Board appoints the officer at its annual meeting each January, and the Board re-confirmed Mr. Zerr as Veteran's Service Administrator on January 14, 2026, with Commissioner Kevin Swanson as its liaison to the office. Under section 80-407 it is the county veterans service committee that appoints the officer, subject to the Board's confirmation. Frontier County. The State's directory lists Mr. Zerr and Mr. Wigstone, at this office's address, as Frontier County's service officers too. Dawson County's 2026-2027 budget lists its agreement with Frontier County for the Veterans Service Officer among its interlocal agreements, and Frontier County's own filed 2025-2026 budget lists the agreement with Dawson County for veterans services from July 1, 2016 "until terminated" and pays a "Vet's Service Contract" of $5,000.00 a year (2023-2024, 2024-2025 and again for 2025-2026). Frontier County's Veterans Services page names Mr. Zerr at 308-324-3041 and links this office's page; a Frontier County veteran calls or visits this office in Lexington (see the Frontier County aid entry for Frontier County's own fund). The Board's year. The Board authorized the Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs' memorandum of understanding on December 31, 2025 and the Tyler Technologies memorandum Mr. Zerr presented on January 30, 2026 (the same pair Dodge County signed for the VetraSpec claims database). On September 15, 2026, on Mr. Zerr's recommendation, it appointed Jon Hudson to the Veterans Service Committee to replace Robert Schwanz; the recommendation said five years, though section 80-101(2) limits a vacancy appointment to the rest of the departing member's term. The 2026-2027 budget gives the office $97,405.76, and the county keeps a $1,000 Veteran's petty cash account.