Richardson County Veterans Service Office

The office. The county's page puts the Richardson County Veterans Service Office at 1700 Stone Street, Room 106, Falls City, NE 68355 (the courthouse), phone 402-245-3722, open Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through the lunch hour; the State's directory (updated October 26, 2026) gives Room 101 and a noon-to-1:00 closing. The Veterans Service Officer is Odis J. Fields ([email protected]) and the assistant James C. Kirkendall ([email protected]). The office helps veterans and dependents with information on VA benefits, with applications and supporting documents, and with eligibility for VA medical centre treatment. What the county lists. The County Benefits page (modified November 7, 2025) 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; recording of a certified copy of the DD-214, 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. 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). The officers. Mona Godemann retired as officer on February 24, 2025, after 25 years in the office and 11 as officer. On April 2, 2025 the Board appointed Mr. Fields on the Veterans Service Committee's recommendation, with Mr. Kirkendall as assistant, and on January 14, 2026 reappointed him for 2026 at $30.00 an hour; because of the office's staffing it paid out part of his vacation in 2025 and on April 8, 2026 extended his unused vacation to March 31, 2027. On November 5, 2025 he presented the Annual Veterans Aid Report and the Board approved the Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs' memorandum putting the county on the VetraSpec database for 2026 to 2028. The committee's members are appointed for five years; the Board re-appointed Jameson Baker for July 2026 to June 2031 on June 17, 2026. The money. The adopted 2026-2027 budget gives the office (0100-803) $113,855.50, against $111,793.37 spent in 2025-2026, including $3,500.00 for grave markers and flags ($3,126.87 spent in 2025-2026).