Lenawee County Department of Veterans Affairs and Its Executive Committee

The department. Lenawee created a county department of veterans' affairs under MCL 35.621 (1953 PA 192; see the Michigan entry on county departments), and its December 12, 2025 bylaws run it the way the Act allows: an Executive Committee of four members, "an honorably discharged veteran of the US Armed Forces" each, appointed by the Board of Commissioners, with a commissioner as liaison (Terry Collins through the year read). The Committee reviews and authorises the department's actions, sets its policies, and under MCL 35.623 "shall appoint a County Veterans' Service Officer; who shall function as Director" - and must give "the greater consideration" to any recommendation of an organised veterans body in the county. Its members through the window were Chairman Michael Shadbolt, John Saxton, Ted Crockett and Aaron Ricketts, with Todd Gillman recommended on December 12, 2025 to succeed Ricketts (term ended December 31, 2025) and confirmed by the Board on January 14, 2026; Shadbolt stayed chair and Crockett secretary on the January 16, 2026 ballot. The same December 12, 2025 vote amended the bylaws to meet "every other month" - the second Friday, beginning January, at 10 a.m. in the third-floor courtroom of the old courthouse, 301 N. Main Street - and the committee sits as the Veterans' Relief Fund committee too (its own entry). Three of four is a quorum; members draw the commissioners' per diem and mileage from the general fund. November 14, 2025 and September 11, 2026 were cancelled meetings; a nomination is open on the county home page for a four-year term ending December 31, 2030. The office. Free services "through Accredited Veterans Service Officers" for veterans, dependents and survivors - claims, burial and memorial work, discharge records, transportation, emergency help - with no appointment necessary, at 1040 S. Winter Street, Suite 3017, Adrian, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 517-264-5335. The two staff listed on the department's Contact page are VA-accredited representatives of the American Legion, DAV, VFW, MVAA and NACVSO: director Timothy Ruple, accreditation 54254, and Veterans Relief Service Officer Kristina Eschedor, accreditation 58418. Cevin Walker is the Deputy Veterans Service Director. The handover the year recorded. Tammy Sheldon came to the county in 1982, was appointed a Veteran's Service Officer on March 7, 2003, had the job re-titled Veterans Service Director on February 1, 2024, and retired July 9, 2026 after 43 years and 9 months; the Board honoured her on June 10, 2026 by Proclamation #2026-14. The Committee ran the replacement itself under the Act: thirteen applications screened on June 3, 2026, interviews on June 12, and "Motion carried unanimously, 4-0, approving Timothy Ruple's selection", who had run the office as deputy Veterans Service Director since April 2023 and signed in as director by the July 10, 2026 minutes; Cevin Walker was offered the Deputy Veterans Service Officer post on August 14, 2026. What the office files. The June 2026 monthly report - the department's own ledger, attached to the Board's August 12, 2026 packet - counts for January to June 2026: 439 personal interviews, 318 file reviews and 384 claims status checks; 132 VA 21-0966 intent-to-file, 73 VA 21-526EZ service-connected compensation claims, 166 VA 21-4138 statements in support, 35 federal burial, plot and travel allowance claims, 17 DIC claims, 41 headstone and marker requests, 15 health-care enrollments, 15 CHAMPVA applications and 47 supplemental-claim reviews; 22 Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency DD-214 requests and 16 SF-180s; and 68 veterans ridden to the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. It also carries the county burial allowance and the relief fund (their own entries) and 81 veterans aged 70 or more seeking monthly compensation. The home page still prints "$69,954,000" received by Lenawee County veterans in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022 and "5,910 veterans resided in Lenawee County" - recorded as published, and stale. Money. The department's own fund (286 Veteran Service) shows a state revenue line budgeted at $61,525 and adjusted "to Grant Actuals" at $50,096 in April 2026, against the $50,000 base the State's county veteran service grant pays every county (see the Michigan entry on county departments), and the Board proposed $73,386 for the fund in the 2027 budget. The relief levy is its own entry. The county's year of recognitions. The Board proclaimed November 2025 and November 2026 times to honor veterans and asked residents to fly green lights November 4-11 under Operation Green Light (Proclamation #2025-20, adopted October 15, 2025 by unanimous roll call with Sheldon and Ruple presenting, and #2026-24, in the October 14, 2026 packet, whose minutes were not posted when read). The Committee logged a Veteran Stand Down with Project Connect on November 12, 2025, and on July 10, 2026 member Ted Crockett reported "Veterans Day at the Fair will be held on July 29... a program and free food for veterans. Veterans who attend the fair that day will receive free admission," with the office running a table. The Board on December 10, 2025 paid a tribute to Committee member John Saxton, an Army veteran "transporting veterans to VA medical appointments", named an older-adult volunteer of the year. The new Veterans Affairs website went up in the week the IT/Equalization Committee reported on April 2, 2026 ("a major upgrade to what was previously on the County's website"), with a monthly VetSource email newsletter; its State Benefits and Federal Benefits pages are link lists to the State's and VA's own pages, so state and federal rules here rest on the Michigan entries.