Minnesota County Veterans Service Officers

Section 197.60 requires the county board of every county, or the boards of two or more counties acting jointly under section 197.602, to appoint a county veterans service officer, and permits assistant officers. The board must provide clerical help, office space, equipment, supplies and mileage reimbursement, and every county officer and agency must cooperate with the officer and supply information needed for the work. A county employing a CVSO may levy a tax to defray the salaries and expenses, and that levy may be made in excess of and over and above all taxing limitations including population and local tax rate limits. The tenure provision is unusual and worth knowing if a county is unhappy with its officer. The term is four years, with the first 12 months of the initial appointment probationary, unless the officer is removed for cause on written charges after a hearing. If the board does not intend to reappoint a CVSO who has been certified by the department, it must give the officer written notice not later than 90 days before the term ends. If it does not give that notice in time, the officer must automatically be reappointed. A county that lets the clock run has reappointed its officer whether it meant to or not. The duty in section 197.603 is to aid all residents of the governmental subdivision in securing benefits provided by law on account of service in the armed forces, where the person has a discharge other than dishonorable. There is a wider duty for one subject: the officer must aid all veterans who are residents, regardless of the nature of the discharge, in securing counselling or treatment for substance use disorder and substance abuse. A veteran with a bad discharge who is turned away for claims help is still entitled to that. The CVSO is the responsible authority for records in their custody under chapter 13, and data on clients' applications for assistance is private data on individuals. The one authorised disclosure is to the county or local assessor, of private data necessary to determine eligibility for the veteran with a disability homestead market value exclusion under section 273.13, subdivision 34, which is the mechanism behind the July 1 certification in that subdivision. Section 197.604 makes it unlawful for any person to pay, and for any county veterans service officer or employee under the officer to receive, any fee directly or indirectly for any service rendered in securing a benefit under section 197.603. A violation is a gross misdemeanour, not a petty offence. Section 197.6091 is Minnesota's answer to paid claims consultants. A person advertising veterans benefits appeal services must conspicuously disclose in the advertisement, in similar type size or voice-over, that veterans benefits appeal services are also offered at no cost by county veterans service officers under sections 197.603 and 197.604. A person who provides veterans benefits services in exchange for compensation must give each client or prospective client the written disclosure statement developed by the commissioner under section 196.05, subdivision 1, and must obtain the client's signature on an attestation that the client has read and understands it, before entering into an agreement or accepting money or anything of value. The penalty is a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation, assessed by the district court in an action brought by the attorney general, and each day of a continuing violation is a separate violation. The attorney general may also settle an investigation for a civil penalty without filing an action. Recovered penalties are deposited in the "Support Our Troops" account under section 190.19. The section does not apply to the owner or personnel of the medium in which an advertisement appears. Note what section 197.6091 does not do. It is a disclosure and advertising statute. Unlike some states, Minnesota does not by this section prohibit charging for representation in an initial claim, cap what may be charged, or void a non-compliant contract. The remedy is a civil penalty in the attorney general's hands, not a private right of action for the veteran. Section 197.608 funds a grant programme to counties that employ a certified CVSO, with a one-year grace period for a newly hired officer serving an initial probationary period, and ineligibility for a county whose officer does not obtain certification by the end of the first year. Section 197.63 requires certified copies of birth, death, marriage, divorce and recorded discharge records to be issued promptly and without charge to a veteran, a surviving spouse or next of kin, a CVSO, or a service officer of a congressionally chartered veterans organisation, for use in presenting claims. Tribal veterans service officers operate alongside the county officers under a department initiative rather than under section 197.60, and the rules in chapter 9055 name them as an equivalent route for State Soldiers Assistance Program applications and extensions.