Grimes County Veterans Services (Jay Lafferty)

The office. Jay Lafferty, Veterans' Service Officer, 270 FM 149 W. (P.O. Box 811), Anderson, Texas 77830, in the Grimes County Justice & Business Center next to the Sheriff's Department; (936) 873-4490; [email protected]. Office hours Monday to Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The page links Texas Workforce Commission veterans' services, Honor Flight Houston, the VA's homeless programmes, Lone Star Legal Aid, the National Cemetery Administration and the Veterans Crisis Line. The office files VA and State claims under Government Code chapter 434 (see the Texas entry); the minutes of September 16, 2026 note that the Texas Veterans Commission "approves all of Lafferty's work". What the office reports. Lafferty reports each month to the Commissioners Court. September 2025: 100 contacts (67 emails, 15 phone calls, 18 office visits), and the Texas Veterans Commission's new requirement for a list of veterans in the county jail, which the Sheriff's office will now report with him. February 2026: 18 phone calls, 13 office visits and 5 emails, one new claim; he described a banner he displays at large gatherings ("Veterans don't lose your benefits") and veterans who "acquired outside help and they were charged money. Please see your VSO for help with your claim." July 2026: 18 office, 36 phone and 7 email contacts and three new claims; August: 6 office, 32 phone and 5 email contacts; and a visit from three Texas Veterans Commission representatives about the Commission's reorganized operations. The Court recognized his ten years of service on December 3, 2025, and in August 2026 the county began advertising veterans' benefits on a new LED sign on Highway 90. How the county funds it. The office is General Fund department 0463, "Veterans' Service Officer", a half-time position: at the July 27, 2026 budget hearing "Mr. Lafferty works 20 hours per week". The FY2027 budget, adopted September 16, 2026, sets it at $35,010.10: $25,539.80 of part-time salary, a $2,080 merit raise line, payroll costs, $1,500 of travel and conferences, and $900 of advertising, up from $500 so the office can run three newspaper advertisements a year (Veterans Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July) instead of two. FY2026 budgeted $29,568.51 and spent $25,523.68.