10th Judicial District Veterans Treatment Court (serves McMinn County)
The 10th Judicial District Veterans Treatment Court, coordinated by Amanda Kozak in Cleveland (423-339-0480, [email protected]), serves McMinn County veterans on the…
VetTOC · Veteran benefits reference
McMinn County, Tennessee
Free help with a VA claim
- McMinn County (Tennessee) Veterans Services. McMinn County's Veterans Services, Courthouse Annex, 5 East Madison Avenue, Athens (423-744-1605, fax 423-744-1644), helps McMinn County veterans obtain benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Director and Veterans Service Officer Justin Weir, with VSO and administrative assistant Monica Belcher. www.mcminncountytn.gov/veterans_services.html
Find a VA-accredited representative: www.va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative/find-rep
McMinn County benefits
McMinn County (Tennessee) Trustee: State Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans
The McMinn County Trustee, Phil Tuggle, at the courthouse, 6 East Madison Avenue, Athens (423-744-1603, fax 423-745-1291), administers the State's tax relief programme for…
Gate: Permanent and total, as VA determines it
Tennessee benefits that apply here
Tennessee County Motor Vehicle Privilege Tax Exemption
A veteran rated one hundred percent permanent and total from a service-connected cause, or a former prisoner of war, is exempt from the county wheel tax.
Gate: One hundred percent permanent total, service-connected
www.tn.gov/veteran/veteran-benefits/tn-state-benefits/motor-services.html
Tennessee Disabled Veteran Hunting and Fishing License
Two different deals. A resident veteran rated 100 percent permanent and total buys a permanent combination license once for ten dollars.
Gate: One hundred percent permanent and total buys the permanent license for $10; Thirty percent from wartime service is free
www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/veteranservices/documents/MiscApp.pdf
Tennessee Disabled Veteran License Plate
A free plate for a veteran entitled to compensation for loss or loss of use of a foot or hand, prescribed vision loss, or one hundred percent permanent total disability.
Gate: Or one hundred percent permanent total
www.tn.gov/veteran/veteran-benefits/tn-state-benefits/motor-services.html
Tennessee Disabled Veteran Property Tax Relief
The state reimburses the local property tax on the first $175,000 of full market value of a disabled veteran’s home, with no income limit.
Gate: Service-connected permanent and total disability; Permanence is the test, not the percentage; Permanent unemployability reaches the same finding; Permanence on the unemployability route too
comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/pa/documents/tax-relief/tax%20relief%20tca.pdf
Tennessee Elderly and Disabled Homeowner Property Tax Relief
The means-tested programs a veteran falls back on when the disabled veteran route is out of reach: $38,470 of 2025 income and relief on the first $33,600 of market value for tax…
comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/pa/documents/tax-relief/TaxReliefBrochure.pdf
Tennessee Fallen Heroes Medal
A state medal presented by the Governor to the immediate survivor of an active-duty member killed in action or killed in an attack targeting service members.
Tennessee Has No Income Tax on Military Retired Pay
Tennessee taxes no income of any kind. The Hall tax on interest and dividends, the last thing that came close, was repealed for tax years beginning January 1, 2021, so there is…
Tennessee Helping Heroes Grant
A lottery-funded grant for post-9/11 veterans and Guard and reserve members holding the Iraq, Afghanistan or Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal or the Global War on Terrorism…
Tennessee In-State Tuition for Veterans Using VA Education Benefits
A veteran using VA education benefits and living in Tennessee pays no out-of-state tuition or fees at a public institution, regardless of formal residency.
www.tn.gov/veteran/veteran-education/scholarships/veterans/instate-tuition.html
Tennessee Local Government Matching Property Tax Relief
A county or city may appropriate its own money to add to the state tax relief a disabled veteran already receives, up to the total tax actually paid.
comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/pa/documents/tax-relief/tax%20relief%20tca.pdf
Tennessee Military Discharge Recording
A county register records a veteran’s discharge free of charge, and the record is confidential for seventy-five years rather than open to the public.
Tennessee Military Leave for State Employees
Twenty paid working days a year for a reserve or Guard member employed by the state, plus additional paid days for any call to active state duty, with no length-of-service…
Gate: Thirty-six hours a year of medical appointment leave at 30 percent
hrsupport.tn.gov/hc/en-us/articles/46458272086035-When-is-military-leave-with-pay-granted
Tennessee Motor Vehicle Sales Tax Exemptions for Service Members and Disabled Veterans
Tennessee exempts a vehicle from sales tax for a uniformed service member on active duty stationed in the state, an AGR member, and a Guard or reserve member in a combat zone…
www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/taxguides/militaryveterans.pdf
Tennessee National Guard Death and Disability Compensation
A Guard member injured on state active duty or training is compensated as under workers’ compensation, on the higher of the civilian or federal wage.
codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-58-military-affairs-emergencies-and-civil-defense/tn-code-sect-58-1-230
Tennessee Private Employer Veterans Preference
A Tennessee private employer may adopt a written policy preferring veterans and certain spouses in hiring, and doing so is not an equal employment opportunity violation.
codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-50-employer-and-employee/tn-code-sect-50-1-107
Tennessee Property Tax Relief While Relocated for Health Care
A disabled veteran who moves in with a relative or into a hospital or nursing facility keeps the property tax relief, so long as there is an intent to return.
Tennessee Property Tax Relief for Surviving Spouses
Three separate routes carry the disabled veteran’s property tax relief to a surviving spouse who does not remarry.
comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/pa/documents/tax-relief/TaxReliefBrochure.pdf
Tennessee Property Tax Relief: Deadlines, Proration and Repayment
The administrative half of the tax relief program. A 35-day deadline with a good-cause waiver, a statutory power to cut every payment when the appropriation runs short, a…
comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/pa/documents/tax-relief/tax%20relief%20tca.pdf
Tennessee STRONG Act Tuition Reimbursement
Tuition reimbursement for a serving Tennessee National Guard member toward a first bachelor’s or master’s degree or a vocational certificate.
www.tn.gov/military/programs-benefits/education-incentives/state-ta.html
Tennessee State Veterans Cemeteries
Burial at no fee in five state veterans cemeteries. A 2026 act opened eligibility to reserve and Guard members with eight years of service or any call to state orders, and made…
Tennessee State Veterans Homes
Six skilled nursing homes for veterans with a Tennessee connection.
Gate: Seventy percent moves the cost to the VA higher per diem
www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2020/op20-13.pdf
Tennessee Tuition Waiver for Dependents of Killed, POW and MIA Veterans
Full waiver of tuition and fees at state institutions for a child under 23, or the spouse, of a veteran killed, who died of service injuries, or reported a prisoner of war or…
Tennessee Veteran Designation on a Driver License
An honorably discharged veteran, including a Guard member, can have the designation printed on a Tennessee driver license or photo ID at renewal.
www.tn.gov/veteran/veteran-benefits/tn-state-benefits/motor-services.html
Tennessee Veterans Preference in State Employment
Not points. A veteran who meets the minimum qualifications is guaranteed a first-round interview, wins a tie, and gets a written explanation filed within 30 days if passed over.
Gate: Spouse preference needs 100 percent, P&T, or a line-of-duty death
Tennessee Veterans Treatment Courts
A statutory framework for veterans treatment courts, either standing alone or as a track inside a certified drug court, run on a nonadversarial model where the prosecutor and…
law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-16/chapter-6/section-16-6-101
Who Counts as a Veteran in Tennessee
Tennessee has no single definition. The discharge line moves from program to program, and the state veterans homes sit at the strictest end of it while the cemeteries sit at the…
www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2020/op20-13.pdf
79 federal benefits apply here as well and are left off this page; the place page lists them.