Rankin County Veteran Affairs Office

Rankin County's Veteran Affairs office provides free, confidential assistance with VA benefits and programs. The county lists what it helps with: VA disability claims (filing new claims, increases, and evidence review), VA healthcare enrollment, appeals and higher-level review, survivor and dependent benefits including DIC, pension and burial benefits, education and training under the GI Bill, Veteran Readiness and Employment, pension and aid and attendance, caregiver support programs including the PCAFC, and military and VA records requests including DD-214s, service treatment records and personnel files. The officer. The office is run by J. Wiltz Cutrer, Jr., a U.S. Navy veteran and VA-accredited claims agent (accreditation number 59875). Mississippi Veterans Affairs' county list confirms the office at 211 East Government Street, Suite A, Brandon, MS 39042, phone (601) 824-2652. Hours are unusual and worth planning around. In-office hours are Tuesdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Wednesdays 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Virtual appointments by Microsoft Teams are available Mondays, with additional virtual slots on Wednesdays. Walk-ins are welcome but the office strongly recommends appointments, which can be booked online for either format, to ensure adequate time and privacy. A county veterans service officer under Section 35-3-3 must be certified annually by Mississippi Veterans Affairs, which requires an annual training program and a written examination. The office is free. Homestead and tags. Homestead applications are taken by the county tax assessor, Staci D. McNinch, at the courthouse annex at 211 E. Government Street, Brandon, (601) 825-1470, between January 1 and April 1; the assessor publishes a homestead exemption application form and lists assisting homeowners with homestead applications among the office's duties. The one-dollar disabled veteran plates are issued by the tax collector (Caroline Gilbert, (601) 825-1467, with Brandon, Richland and Flowood offices), and the chancery clerk records discharges without cost. Those rules are in the State entries.