DeSoto County Operation Green Light for Veterans
Each November the Board of Supervisors lights county buildings green for veterans and invites businesses, HOAs, residents and other governments to join, part of the National…
VetTOC · Veteran benefits reference
DeSoto County, Mississippi
Free help with a VA claim
- DeSoto County Veteran Services. DeSoto County keeps two veteran services offices, in Hernando and Olive Branch, staffed by county veterans benefits specialists who help veterans, service members, surviving spouses and families claim federal and state benefits by appointment. desotocountyms.gov/793/Veterans-Services
Find a VA-accredited representative: www.va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative/find-rep
DeSoto County benefits
DeSoto County Tax Assessor: Homestead Exemption and the Age-85 Veteran Exemption
The DeSoto County Tax Assessor's 2027 instructions open the homestead window on January 4 and close it at 5:00 p.m.
Gate: Service-connected total disability for the full exemption
Mississippi benefits that apply here
Mississippi Concealed Carry Permit Fee and Training Exemptions for Veterans
Any service-connected disability, at any percentage, exempts a veteran from concealed carry permit and renewal fees.
Gate: Any service-connected disability, at any percentage
Mississippi Disabled Veteran Homestead Exemption
A complete exemption from all ad valorem taxes on the homestead, with no dollar cap and no acreage cap, for an honorably discharged veteran with a service-connected total…
Gate: Service-connected total disability
billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2026/pdf/HB/4000-4099/HB4044SG.pdf
Mississippi Disabled Veteran License Plate at 70%
Two motor vehicle plates and one motorcycle tag at one dollar each, for a veteran at 100% permanent service-connected disability or at least 70% nonpermanent.
Gate: At least 70% nonpermanent service-connected disability; 100% permanent service-connected disability; Permanence on the 100% path
Mississippi Free Vital Records and Discharge Recording for VA Claims
Mississippi furnishes birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce and adoption decrees, and other records free of charge when needed to establish a VA dependency,…
Mississippi Homestead Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Members Who Died on Active Duty
A complete ad valorem exemption on the homestead for the unremarried surviving spouse of a servicemember who was killed or died on active duty, including a reserve or National…
billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2026/pdf/HB/1300-1399/HB1380SG.pdf
Mississippi Homestead Exemption for Veterans 90 or Older, Dropping to 85 in 2027
A complete ad valorem exemption for an honorably discharged veteran with no rating at all, based only on age.
billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2026/pdf/HB/4000-4099/HB4044SG.pdf
Mississippi Honorary High School Diploma for Wartime Veterans
A local school board may award an honorary high school diploma to a veteran who left school to serve, on two specific timelines tied to 1941 to 1955 and 1963 to 1973.
Mississippi Hunting and Fishing License Exemption for Total Service-Connected Disability
A resident adjudged by VA as having a total service-connected disability needs no hunting or fishing license.
Gate: Service-connected total disability
Mississippi In-State Tuition for Nonresident Veterans and Military Families
Any veteran under Title 38, or anyone entitled to Title 38 education benefits including a transferee, pays in-state tuition in Mississippi.
billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/SB/2500-2599/SB2526SG.pdf
Mississippi Military Retired Pay and Service Income Exemptions
Mississippi taxes no military retired pay, no VA compensation, no Social Security, and no combat zone hazardous duty pay, and excludes the first $15,000 of Guard and reserve pay.
Mississippi National Guard State Educational Assistance Program
Up to $10,000 a state fiscal year at a Mississippi college or university, or $5,000 at a community college, for an actively serving Guard member.
Mississippi Privilege Tax Exemption for Disabled Persons
Listed in the state veterans guidebook, but the income ceiling is $900 a year, unchanged for decades.
Mississippi Public Accommodation Right for Veterans With Support Animals
A Mississippi statute names PTSD explicitly. A veteran diagnosed with PTSD who uses a trained support animal has a state law right of access to public accommodations with no…
Mississippi Scholarship for Children of Prisoners of War and the Missing in Action
Eight semesters of tuition at no cost at any state-supported college or university in Mississippi, for a child of a servicemember whose home of record is Mississippi and who is…
Mississippi State Employment Veterans Preference
Since 2019 the State Personnel Board implements the statutory preference by placing veterans at the top of the eligible list, disabled veterans first, rather than by adding points.
Gate: 30% for the disabled veteran preference
Mississippi State Park Discounts for Veterans
A 15% discount off camping and lodging rates for veterans and active service members, excluding holidays and special events.
Gate: 100% service-connected for the disabled park permit rates
Mississippi State Veterans Home Daily Charge Exemption at 70%
No daily charge at all for a resident of a Mississippi State Veterans Nursing Home with a combined service-connected rating of 70% or more, or a total rating based on individual…
Gate: Combined service-connected rating of 70% or more; Total rating based on individual unemployability
Mississippi State Veterans Homes
Five state-run skilled nursing homes, at Collins, Jackson, Kosciusko, Oxford, and the newest at Tradition in Biloxi.
Mississippi Veteran Hiring Tax Credit, Repealed in 2018
The credit for employing an unemployed post-9/11 veteran was repealed effective January 1, 2018. Mississippi Veterans Affairs still lists it as a current benefit.
Mississippi Veterans Home Purchase Board Loan
A state-run mortgage at 4.50% for 5 to 15 years or 5.00% for 16 to 30 years as of March 1, 2026, up to $400,000, at 100% loan to value, serviced by the state for the life of the…
Mississippi Veterans Honor Medal
A state medal for any honorably discharged Mississippi veteran, wartime or peacetime, including Guard and Reserve.
Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemeteries
Two state cemeteries, at Newton and Kilmichael, burying veterans, spouses, and dependent children at no cost.
79 federal benefits apply here as well and are left off this page; the place page lists them.