Chapter 5902-1 | Requirements for Service Commissioners and Officers

Rule 5902-1-01 | Training and education.

• Effective: January 23, 2023
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

For purposes of Chapter 5902-1 of the Administrative Code:

(A) Training and education curricula for the accreditation of county veterans service officers shall be determined by the director of the Ohio department of veterans services or the director's designee, in consultation with the Ohio state association of county veterans service officers;

(B) Training and education curricula for the training of county veterans service commissioners shall be determined by the director of the Ohio department of veterans services or the director's designee, in consultation with the Ohio state association of county veterans service commissioners;

(C) In each case, training will be selected from the following list of topics:

(1) Veterans' benefits, including but not limited to

(a) Claims, appeals, survivor benefits, death benefits, national and state cemeteries;

(b) Financial assistance; housing and small business loan programs; social security administration;

(c) Individual unemployability compensation, presumptive disabilities, ratings;

(d) Women veteran programs;

(e) Issues related or specific to service in the reserves or national guard;

(f) Programs intended for disabled veterans;

(2) Education programs for veterans;

(3) Employment resources, including but not limited to

(a) Vocational rehabilitation;

(b) Resources for post-9/11 veterans;

(c) Survivors' and dependents' educational assistance;

(4) Financial counseling, including but not limited to

(a) Debt management;

(b) Insurance programs;

(c) Retiree issues;

(5) Veteran healthcare, including but not limited to

(a) Employee health;

(b) Environmental exposures;

(c) Mental health issues and resources;

(d) Traumatic brain injury;

(e) Suicide prevention;

(f) Nursing home, domiciliary, and other medical care;

(6) Operations of county veterans service commissions and other veterans' resources and programs, including but not limited to

(a) Accreditation by the United States department of veterans affairs or by veterans service organizations;

(b) Consumer protection;

(c) Customer awareness;

(d) Federal veterans' affairs;

(e) State veterans' affairs;

(f) Equal opportunity and sexual harassment provisions;

(g) Workplace violence provisions;

(h) Ethics law;

(i) Veteran homelessness programs;

(j) Labor law;

(k) Public records law;

(l) Records (e.g. discharges and upgrades) management;

(m) Board of veterans appeals;

(n) United States veterans affairs regional office updates and trends;

(o) Veterans health administration;

(p) Shared services;

(q) Any federal, state, and local veterans' programs;

(r) Sunshine law;

(7) Additional topics required by the United States department of veterans affairs or otherwise considered beneficial to Ohio's veterans by the director of the Ohio department of veterans services;

(D) Dates, times, and locations of training and education opportunities shall be maintained on the website of the Ohio department of veterans services.

Last updated January 24, 2023 at 3:13 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 5902.02
Amplifies: 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 1/21/2028
Prior Effective Dates: 4/10/2003

Rule 5902-1-02 | Education, training, and certification for county veterans service commissioners.

• Effective: January 1, 2017
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) In order to be recertified, county veterans service commissioners shall earn annually no fewer than five credits per calendar year. Additional credits or training may be required at the discretion of the director of the Ohio department of veterans services. The director, or the director's designee, shall determine the curriculum for each training conference, school, or other event provided by the Ohio state association of county veterans service commissioners, in consultation with that association. Newly-appointed commissioners shall attend a special course of instruction conducted by the department of veterans services and earn credit at the discretion of the director of the department of veterans services. Each commissioner shall sign a standards of conduct form.

(B) County veterans service commissioners shall attend or take:

(1) All training or education required by the director of the department of veterans services; and

(2) At least one of the following:

(a) The Ohio state association of county veterans service commissioners' spring conference; or

(b) The Ohio state association of county veterans service commissioners' fall conference; and

(3) Any other education or training approved by the director of the department of veterans services and needed for service commissioners to earn the required number of credits annually.

Last updated October 12, 2022 at 9:10 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: ORC 5902.02
Amplifies: ORC 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 8/31/2027
Prior Effective Dates: 2/14/2011

Rule 5902-1-03 | Criteria for hiring county veterans service officers.

• Effective: January 1, 2017
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) Minimum qualifications for hiring veterans service officers:

(1) Shall be a veteran with an honorable discharge/separation;

(2) Shall be a high school graduate or equivalent;

(3) Shall satisfactorily complete a background investigation by a local law enforcement agency.

(B) Hiring preference shall be given to veterans with a service-connected disability.

Last updated October 12, 2022 at 9:10 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: ORC 5902.02
Amplifies: ORC 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 8/31/2027
Prior Effective Dates: 1/18/1997

Rule 5902-1-05 | Accrediting and certifying county veterans service officers.

• Effective: January 1, 2017
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

In order to hold the position of a county veterans service officer, an individual shall be accredited by the Ohio department of veterans services within eighteen months of being hired. The department of veterans services shall certify an individual's accreditation to the United States department of veterans affairs upon completion of each of the following requirements:

(A) Attend state association of county veterans service officers new service officers school;

(B) Achieve a minimum score of at least seventy per cent on the certification test administered by the department of veterans services.

County veterans service officers not yet accredited and within the initial eighteen months of employment shall have all benefit applications reviewed by an accredited service officer prior to submission to the veterans benefits administration.

Last updated October 12, 2022 at 9:10 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: ORC 5902.02
Amplifies: ORC 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 8/31/2027
Prior Effective Dates: 4/10/2003, 2/14/2011

Rule 5902-1-06 | Education of county veterans service officers.

• Effective: January 1, 2017
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) County veterans service officers shall earn no fewer than five credits per calendar year beginning in the first full calendar year of employment following their accreditation by the Ohio department of veterans services. Additional credits or training may be required at the discretion of the director of the Ohio department of veterans services. At the time the department of veterans services accredits county veterans service officers, the department shall send each service officer notice of accreditation and how many credits the service officer must earn in that calendar year, dependent upon the time of year and training opportunities remaining.

(B) The director, or the director's designee, shall determine the curriculum for each training conference, school, or other event provided by the Ohio state association of county veterans service officers, in consultation with that association.

(C) County veterans service officers shall attend or take:

(1) All training or education required by the director of the department of veterans services; and

(2) At least one of the following:

(a) The Ohio state association of county veterans service officers' spring school; or

(b) The Ohio state association of county veterans service officers' fall school; and

(3) Any other education or training approved by the director of the department of veterans services and needed for service officers to earn the required number of credits annually.

Last updated October 12, 2022 at 9:10 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: ORC 5902.02
Amplifies: ORC 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 8/31/2027
Prior Effective Dates: 1/18/1997

Rule 5902-1-08 | Revocation of certification of county veterans service commissioners.

• Effective: January 23, 2023
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) The director of the department of veterans services, at their discretion, shall promptly investigate allegations of incompetence, misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, and unethical behavior on the part of a veterans service commissioner for purposes of determining whether such commissioner's certification shall be revoked.

(B) Such investigation may be performed by the director personally or such other individual as the director may designate.

(C) At the conclusion of the investigation, the director shall make a determination as to whether the certification of the commissioner should be revoked and shall issue a report of that determination. Copies of the report shall be sent to the commissioner who was the subject of the investigation and to the administrative judge of the common pleas court of the county where the commissioner serves.

(D) If the director's report indicates that the grounds are insufficient to warrant the revocation of the commissioner's certification, the report may also include other findings and recommendations the director may deem appropriate.

(E) If the director's report indicates that the grounds are sufficient to warrant the revocation of the commissioner's certification, the report shall notify the commissioner who was the subject of the investigation that they may appeal such determination to the veterans advisory committee within thirty days of the issuance of the report.

(F) In the case of a timely appeal to the veterans advisory committee, the committee chairperson shall appoint a subcommittee of three committee members, all of whom shall be representatives of the state association of county veterans services commissioners, to hear the appeal, except that if any of the three representatives are from the same county as the individual filing the appeal, the chairperson shall appoint a substitute advisory committee member to the subcommittee who also serves as a county veterans service commissioner. If the chairperson cannot, for any reason, fill the three positions on the subcommittee with advisory committee members who are also county veteran service commissioners, they shall contact the state association of county veterans service commissioners for the purpose of the temporary appointment of one or more association members to the advisory committee for the limited purpose of serving on the appeal subcommittee. The subcommittee shall conduct a hearing and shall make a report and recommendation to the full committee at the next scheduled meeting. The veterans advisory committee shall then vote, by a simple majority of those in attendance at the meeting, either to affirm the director's decision to revoke the commissioner's certification or to overrule the director's determination. If the advisory committee votes to overrule the director's determination, the certification shall not be revoked.

(G) If the director's determination that a county veterans service commissioner's certification shall be revoked is not appealed to the advisory committee, or if appealed, the director's determination is affirmed by the advisory committee, such determination shall be reported to the administrative judge of the common pleas court of the county where the veterans service commissioner serves and to the United States department of veterans affairs as soon as practical.

Last updated January 24, 2023 at 3:13 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 5902.02
Amplifies: 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 1/21/2028
Prior Effective Dates: 2/14/2011

Rule 5902-1-09 | Revocation of certification of county veterans service officers.

• Effective: January 23, 2023
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) The director of the department of veterans services, at their discretion, shall promptly investigate allegations of incompetence, misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, and unethical behavior on the part of a veterans service officer for purpose of determining whether such officer's certification shall be revoked.

(B) Such investigation may be performed by the director personally or such other individual as the director may designate.

(C) At the conclusion of the investigation, the director shall make a determination as to whether the certification of the service officer should be revoked and shall issue a report of that determination. Copies of the report shall be sent to the service officer who was the subject of the investigation and to the veterans service commission of the county where the service officer serves.

(D) If the director's report indicates that the grounds are insufficient to warrant the revocation of the service officer's certification, the report may also include other findings and recommendations the director may deem appropriate.

(E) If the director's report indicates that the grounds are sufficient to warrant the revocation of the service officer's certification, the report shall notify the service officer who was the subject of the investigation that they may appeal such determination to the veterans advisory committee within thirty days of the issuance of the report.

(F) In the case of a timely appeal to the veterans advisory committee, the committee chairperson shall appoint a subcommittee of three committee members, all of whom shall be representatives of the state association of county veterans service officers, to hear the appeal, except that if any of the three representatives are from the same county as the individual filing the appeal, the chairperson shall appoint a substitute advisory committee member to the subcommittee who also serves as a county veterans service officer. If the chairperson cannot, for any reason, fill the three positions on the subcommittee with advisory committee members who are also county veteran service officers, they shall contact the state association of county veterans service officers for the purpose of the temporary appointment of one or more association members to the advisory committee for the limited purpose of serving on the appeal subcommittee. The subcommittee shall conduct a hearing and shall make a report and recommendation to the full committee at the next scheduled meeting. The veterans advisory committee shall then vote, by a simple majority of those in attendance at the meeting, either to affirm the director's decision to revoke the service officer's certification or to overrule the director's determination. If the advisory committee votes to overrule the director's determination, the certification shall not be revoked.

(G) If the director's determination that a county veterans service officer's certification shall be revoked is not appealed to the advisory committee, or if appealed, the director's determination is affirmed by the advisory committee, such determination shall be reported to the veterans service commission of the county where the veterans service officer serves and to the United States department of veterans affairs as soon as practical.

Last updated January 24, 2023 at 3:13 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 5902.02
Amplifies: 5902.02
Five Year Review Date: 1/21/2028
Prior Effective Dates: 2/14/2011