Polk County (Texas) Veterans Service Office

Texas counties may appoint veterans county service officers under Government Code chapter 434; see the Texas entries. Polk County's sheet on the office: "The Polk County Veteran Services Office is proud to serve our 4,268 Veterans residing in Polk County ... CVSOs are trained by the Texas Veterans Commission, and must either be Certified or Accredited with the State to hold this position." What it does. "The most common benefits sought are Service-Connected Compensation, Non-Service-Connected Pension, Survivor Benefits and Burial Benefits", with Aid and Attendance, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and survivors' pension, and "filling out and submitting enrollments to the Veterans Health Administration, VHA audits, requests for DD214s and other service related records, or if you just don't know where to start". The service officer's report to the Commissioners Court in November 2025 put VA spending in the county at $83.2 million for 2024. Who and where. Melissa Gates, Veterans Service Officer since April 2008; a grant-funded part-time Veterans Intake Specialist (Kathryne Leloux) and a secretary shared with Social Services, the two departments having been consolidated in fiscal 2026. 602 E. Church Street, Suite 119, Livingston, TX 77351; 936-327-6838, fax 936-327-9005; [email protected]. Visits are by appointment, Monday to Thursday; the office takes no walk-ins. Jurors can help. The county keeps a jury donation fund for the Veterans County Service Office, into which jurors may give their jury pay.