35B.6 - QUALIFICATION -- TRAINING -- OFFICES.
35B.6 QUALIFICATION -- TRAINING -- OFFICES.
1. a. The members of the commission shall qualify by taking
the usual oath of office, and give bond in the sum of five hundred
dollars each, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties
with sureties to be approved by the county auditor. The commission
shall organize by the selection of one of their members as
chairperson and one as secretary. The commission, subject to the
approval of the board of supervisors, shall employ an executive
director or administrator and shall have the power to employ other
necessary employees when needed, including administrative or clerical
assistants, but no member of the commission shall be so employed.
The compensation of such employees shall be fixed by the board of
supervisors. The executive director must possess the same
qualifications as provided in section 35B.3 for commission members.
However, this qualification requirement shall not apply to a person
employed as an executive director prior to July 1, 1989.
b. The commission may employ an administrator in lieu of an
executive director. Administrators shall not be required to meet all
the qualifications provided in section 35B.3 for commissioners. An
administrator may hold another position within the county or other
government entity while serving as an administrator only if such
position does not adversely affect the administrator's duties under
this chapter.
c. Upon the employment of an executive director or
administrator, the executive director or administrator shall complete
a course of certification training provided by the department of
veterans affairs pursuant to section 35A.5. If an executive director
or administrator fails to obtain certification within one year of
being employed, the executive director or administrator shall be
removed from office. A commissioner or other commission employee may
also complete the course of certification training. The department
shall issue the executive director, administrator, commissioner, or
employee a certificate of training after completion of the
certification training course. To maintain certification, the
executive director, administrator, commissioner, or employee shall
satisfy the continuing education requirements established by the
national association of county veteran service officers. Failure of
an executive director or administrator to maintain certification
shall be cause for removal from office. The expenses of training the
executive director or administrator shall be paid from the
appropriation authorized in section 35B.14.
d. The duties of the executive director, administrator, and
employees shall include all of the following:
(1) Inform members of the armed forces, veterans, and their
dependents of all federal, state, and local laws enacted for their
benefit.
(2) Assist all residents of the state who served in the armed
forces of the United States and their relatives, beneficiaries, and
dependents in receiving from the United States and this state any and
all compensation, pensions, hospitalization, insurance, education,
employment pay and gratuities, loan guarantees, or any other aid or
benefit to which they may be entitled under any law.
e. The department of veterans affairs or county veteran
affairs offices shall not charge for any service provided to any
individual.
2. Two or more boards of supervisors may agree, pursuant to
chapter 28E, to share the services of an executive director or
administrator. The agreement shall provide for the establishment of
a commission of veteran affairs office in each of the counties
participating in the agreement.
3. The commission with the approval of the board of supervisors
shall appoint one of the deputies of the county auditor to serve as
administrative assistant to the commission, to serve without
additional compensation, unless for good reasons shown, this
arrangement is not feasible.
4. a. Each county commission of veteran affairs shall
maintain an office in a building owned, operated, or leased by the
county.
b. An executive director or administrator employed pursuant
to subsection 1 shall provide veterans services for the following
minimum number of hours each week:
(1) For a county with a population of thirty thousand or less, no
fewer than twenty hours per week.
(2) For a county with a population of more than thirty thousand
and less than sixty thousand, no fewer than thirty hours per week.
(3) For a county with a population of sixty thousand or more, no
fewer than forty hours per week.
c. Counties sharing the services of an executive director or
administrator shall provide the number of hours of service required
under paragraph "b" for each county.
d. The hours that the office established under paragraph
"a" is open shall be posted in a prominent position outside the
office. Section History: Early Form
[C97, § 431; C24, 27, 31, 35, § 5389; C39, § 3828.056; C46,
50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 250.6; 81 Acts, ch 33,
§ 5] Section History: Recent Form
89 Acts, ch 248, § 1; 92 Acts, ch 1075, § 2
C93, § 35B.6
94 Acts, ch 1107, §4; 2005 Acts, ch 115, §17, 40; 2008 Acts, ch
1130, §4--6, 10; 2009 Acts, ch 4, §2; 2009 Acts, ch 133, §188
Referred to in § 35A.5, 35A.16, 35B.14, 331.502
Oath, § 63.10