New Hampshire Division of Veterans Services and Free Records

Two provisions in this entry are worth acting on and the rest is the structure behind them. Free records, RSA 110-B:86. "When a copy of any public record is required by the Department of Veterans Affairs to be used in determining the eligibility of any person to participate in benefits made available by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the official custodian of such public record shall without charge provide the applicant for such benefits or any person acting on his or her behalf or the authorized representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs with a certified copy of such record." Read the breadth. Any public record, not only a vital record. Any official custodian, so a town clerk, a register of deeds, a school district, a police department or a state agency. And the certified copy goes without charge to the applicant, to anyone acting on the applicant's behalf, or to an authorised VA representative. A veteran assembling a claim that needs a marriage certificate, a death certificate, a divorce decree, a birth record for a dependency claim or a local incident report does not pay for it, and neither does the service officer helping them. There is one carve-out, and it protects the clerk rather than charging the veteran: "provided, however, that in any case where the copy is made by a town clerk whose official income is derived in part or entirely from fees, a charge for services hereunder shall be made and the town shall reimburse the clerk for the charges." So in a town where the clerk is paid on fees, the fee is charged and the town pays it. If a clerk asks you for money, the answer is that RSA 110-B:86 requires the town to reimburse them, not that you owe it. The handbook, RSA 110-B:84, II. The division of veterans services "shall biennially, beginning July 1, 2019, publish and distribute a state veteran's handbook", which must include points of contact for all federal, state, local and nonprofit veterans agencies, departments, councils, hospitals, clinics and other organisations offering services, benefits and programmes to New Hampshire veterans, with addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses, plus a description of the services each offers. Paragraph III lets the division accept donations, grants, bequests and contributions to publish and distribute it. A current handbook is the single best starting document for a New Hampshire veteran, and the statute requires it to exist and to be distributed. The division's core duty, RSA 110-B:84, I: it "shall assist veterans who are residents of this state or their dependents to secure all benefits or preferences to which they may be entitled under any state or federal laws or regulations." That is a duty owed to dependents as well as veterans, and it covers state benefits as well as federal. It is bounded by money: the division employs such assistance as necessary "within the limits of the appropriation made therefor", subject to the state division of personnel rules. The state veterans council, RSA 110-B:89, was reconstituted by 2026 chapter 11, section 1, effective July 1, 2026. It is now 5 members appointed by the governor and council, "4 of whom shall be veterans as defined by RSA 21:50", with the fifth "a family member of a veteran or family member of a currently serving member of the armed forces". All members must be New Hampshire citizens, terms are staggered three-year terms, and a member holds office until a successor is appointed and qualified. Paragraph II gives the council three jobs: to meet not less than semi-annually, to "provide guidance and make recommendations for improvement on the adequacy and delivery of veterans programs and initiatives", and, new in 2026, to "administer the New Hampshire first for veterans program for the adjutant general". So the council both advises on programme delivery and runs the state's new grant-making programme, and five of the eleven seats on that programme's authority board are council members under RSA 110-B:95, III. The adjutant general may designate a council member as liaison to the state veterans advisory committee. The state veterans advisory committee is a different and much larger body, defined in RSA 115-A:2, VI: two members of the house, one of whom must come from the state-federal relations and veterans affairs committee, two senators, and "twenty representatives of the various veterans' organizations in the state of New Hampshire". RSA 115-A:8 gives non-legislative members two-year terms, renewable, with legislative members serving coterminously, and has the committee elect a chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. RSA 115-A:2, VIII gives it a real power: a "veterans' program" means any legitimate veterans programme established in the state "as determined by the state veterans' advisory committee and approved by the legislative fiscal committee". So the committee of veterans organisations, not the agency, determines what counts as a veterans programme for the chapter, subject to fiscal committee approval. RSA 110-B:85 puts a director at the head of the division, RSA 110-B:87 lets the division take donations and bequests, and RSA 110-B:88 establishes a division of community based military programs. RSA 110-B:83 sets out what composes veterans services. The practical hierarchy for a veteran: the county or local service officer network and the division of veterans services do the claim work, the council sets direction and runs the grant programme, and the advisory committee of veterans organisations is where organised veteran opinion enters the system.