Red Willow County Veterans Service Office (also serving Furnas County)

The office. The Red Willow County Veterans Service Office is at 322 Norris Avenue, Suite 3, McCook, NE 69001, phone (308) 345-2385, cell (308) 340-9214, [email protected], open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. per the State's directory (updated October 26, 2026). Michael T. Simmonds signs as "Red Willow/ Furnas County Veterans Service Officer", with secretary Kathy Lichty; the Board re-appointed him for 2026 on January 12, 2026. The office helps veterans and dependents with VA benefit applications and supporting documents and with VA medical centre eligibility. What the county lists. The County Benefits page (modified February 18, 2026) names county veterans aid (see that entry); a bronze grave flag holder reflecting the veteran's wartime era, inventoried each year and replaced when damaged; registration of DD-214s, after which the veteran "may call us from any where in the world" for a certified copy; homestead help, the office obtaining each year "a letter from the VA Regional Office" naming eligible veterans and widows for the Assessor; and grave registration, with a card sent to the State and a Presidential Memorial Certificate ordered for the family of every deceased county veteran. Two counties. The State's directory lists Mr. Simmonds and Ms. Lichty, at this office, as Furnas County's officers too, and the county's budget lists an ongoing interlocal agreement with Furnas County for the Veteran Services Officer. Furnas paid $24,709.08 in 2023-2024 and $26,783.64 in 2024-2025, with $27,587.18 budgeted for 2025-2026; the office's budget carries an "Administrative Salary - Furnas" line ($15,431.25 in 2025-2026) and a $5,215 line for Furnas County operating expenses. The Furnas side. Furnas County's Veterans Services page names Mr. Simmonds as the "Red Willow & Furnas County Veteran Service Officer" at 322 Norris Avenue in McCook, phone (308) 345-2385, cell (308) 340-9214, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and lists for Furnas County the same county benefits as Red Willow's pages: county veterans aid (see the Furnas County aid entry), a bronze grave flag holder, DD-214 registration, homestead help, grave registration with a Presidential Memorial Certificate, and benefits counselling; the Furnas Register of Deeds records a DD-214 at no cost. Furnas County's filed 2025-2026 budget lists the agreement ("Furnas & Red Willow County, 7/1/2020 until terminated, Veterans Services") and books it in its miscellaneous general budget (0100-970) as "Veterans Service Officer - Contract w/ Red Willow": $24,709.08 in 2023-2024, $26,783.64 in 2024-2025 and $27,587.18 adopted for 2025-2026, the same figures Red Willow books as received. The Furnas Board pays "Red Willow Co Treasurer/Veterans" each quarter: $6,695.91 on July 8 and October 14, 2025 and January 13 and April 14, 2026, $7,907.21 on July 14, 2026 and $7,103.69 on October 13, 2026, and it re-appointed Mr. Simmonds as its Veterans Service Officer at its January 13, 2026 reorganization. Furnas County keeps no office of its own and is outside every veterans treatment court on the Judicial Branch's list. The Board's year. The Board re-appointed Brock Rogers and Heath Hamilton to the Veterans' Service Board to June 30, 2030 on August 25, 2025 and Ricky Kerst to June 30, 2031 on July 13, 2026, and renewed the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs' memorandum of understanding on November 10, 2025; Commissioner Charles Fritsche sits on the Veterans Service Committee. The office spent $89,782.98 in 2024-2025 and $92,655.17 in 2025-2026, and the 2026-2027 budget proposes $106,673.25. Homestead certification. The Assessor's homestead FAQ, under "How do I qualify as a Disabled Veteran or their Widow?", lists the exemptions for a veteran totally disabled by a non-service-connected illness or accident, each "(annual certification required)", and sends the veteran to the Veterans Service Office first for a physician's form and the office's certification. The application under section 77-3508 is annual, but 77-3508(1)(c) says the medical certification need not be repeated when the condition has not changed, though the assessor may ask for it again (see the Nebraska entries).