Jim Wells County Veteran’s Service Office (Daniel Salinas)

The office. Daniel Salinas, Veterans Affair Officer, 601 E. Main Street, Ste. 110, Alice, Texas 78332; phone 361-668-5715, fax 361-668-0600; Monday to Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. "Please call before visiting to make sure the office is open the day you plan to meet with the Veteran's Service Officer." The office keeps a Facebook page, and its mission is to serve "veterans, their widows, and dependents". TexVet's county list gives the officer as David Salinas, [email protected]; the county's page and the Court's records name Daniel. The office files VA and State claims under Government Code chapter 434 (see the Texas entry). A caution on the FAQ. The office's FAQ answers that a surviving spouse qualifies for "widow's pension" on the same terms as for VA medical benefits (a 100 percent service-connected veteran or a service-connected death). VA's survivors pension instead goes to the low-income surviving spouse of a wartime veteran, and a service-connected death leads to dependency and indemnity compensation (see the federal entries); ask the officer which applies. How the county funds it. The office is General Fund department 405, "Veterans Office". The 2027 budget (the county's year is the calendar year; presented September 28, 2026) sets it at $132,659: the officer at $42,877, a secretary at $20,553 (paid $17,717.70 in 2025, none in 2026's estimate), $23,229 of payroll costs, $5,300 of travel, supplies and conferences, $700 of equipment, and $40,000 of "Medical Transportation". 2026's budget is $132,082 (estimated spending $111,529); 2025 spent $125,878.31, $42,615 of it on medical transportation. The budget does not say what the medical transportation line buys or who may use it; ask the officer. At the September 2026 budget workshops the minutes record "VETERANS - NO REQUESTS".