South Dakota County and Tribal Veterans Service Officers

Section 33A-1-22 obliges the board of county commissioners of each county to employ a county veterans service officer, join with another county or counties in employing one, or contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide the services. It is a duty on the county, not an option, and employment is contingent on approval by the secretary of veterans affairs. An act of 2024 added the shared-employment and contracting alternatives, which is how the smallest counties comply. Section 33A-1-29 lets an Indian tribe appoint a veterans service officer on the same terms and conditions as a county officer, or contract with the department for the service. Section 33A-1-30 provides for salary reimbursement and services for tribes and tribal officers. South Dakota is one of the few states that put tribal service officers in the statute rather than leaving them to a memorandum of understanding. What the officer is for. Section 33A-1-24 puts the duties of the county officer under the direction of the department. Section 33A-1-13 is the substantive promise: the Department of Veterans Affairs shall act as the agent of any veteran, National Guard or reserve member, and any dependent of a veteran or member of the state, having a claim against the United States arising from or connected with service in the armed forces, and shall prosecute the claim without charge. That is the free alternative the paid-consultant disclosure rules in 33A-2-38 require a commercial operator to tell a veteran about. Training is a condition of the money rather than of the job. Section 33A-1-26 requires a training program with attendance and testing and a certification of compliance, and 33A-1-33 makes state reimbursement of a county contingent on the officer completing it. The salary schedule in 33A-1-32 is a floor a county may adopt, last raised in 2023, running from $8,250 a year for counties up to 5,000 population to $20,625 for counties of 50,000 and over. Section 33A-1-31 caps state reimbursement at twenty-five percent of that schedule, so the county carries at least three quarters of the cost. Those figures explain why the officer in a small county is frequently part time. Confidentiality is stronger here than in the property tax program. Section 33A-1-21 makes the contents of, and all files, records, reports, papers and documents pertaining to, any claim under chapters 33A-1 to 33A-5 confidential and privileged except to the veteran, the veteran's dependents, or their duly authorised agents. Investigatory material compiled to determine suitability or eligibility is additionally exempt from release where disclosure would reveal a source who was promised confidence. Section 33A-1-20 gives the department investigative authority and access to records, 33A-1-19 assigns an assistant attorney general to the department, and 33A-1-34 directs that the whole chapter be construed liberally to effectuate its purposes, which is a rule of construction a veteran can cite in an argument about scope.