None.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
None.
The mission of the Texas Veterans Commission is to guarantee that Texas veterans and their families receive all rights and entitlements provided by law and that their needs are considered in pending legislation. This is done by providing information to the veteran population, by training veterans county service officers, and by providing claims counseling, development and representation, and outreach services to veterans and their families.
The commission is responsible for (1) compiling federal, state, and local laws enacted to benefit members of the armed forces, veterans, and their families and dependents; (2) collecting information relating to services and facilities available to veterans; (3) cooperating with veterans service agencies in the state; (4) informing members and veterans of the armed forces, their families and dependents, and military and civilian authorities about the existence or availability of educational training and retraining facilities; health, medical, rehabilitation, and housing services and facilities; employment and reemployment services; provisions of federal, state, and local law affording rights, privileges, and benefits to members and veterans of the armed forces and their families and dependents; and other similar, related, or appropriate matters; (5) assisting veterans and their families and dependents in presenting, proving, and establishing claims, privileges, rights, and benefits they may have under federal, state, or local law; (6) cooperating with all government and private agencies securing services or benefits to veterans and their families and dependents; (7) investigating, and if possible correcting, abuses or exploitation of veterans or their families or dependents, and recommending necessary legislation for full correction; (8) coordinating the services and activities of state departments and divisions having services and resources affecting veterans or their families or dependents; and (9) providing training and certification of veterans county service officers and assistant veterans county service officers in accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 434.038.
The Office of the State Service Officer was established in 1927 (House Bill 551, 40th Legislature, Regular Session) under the direction of the Adjutant General's Department. The State Service Office was created to assist Texas residents who had served in military or naval forces in World War I as well as their families in order to help them receive federal benefits, and to aid the United States government in defeating unjust claims for benefits. In 1937 the office was renamed the Veterans' State Service Office (VSSO), gaining several assistant veterans state service officers and extending the aid to Texas residents who served in any United States armed force or nurses corps in any war or peacetime enlistment (House Bill 321, 45th Legislature, Regular Session). The Veterans Affairs Commission was created in 1947 as a separate state agency, taking over the duties of the VSSO in order to care for the large increase in Texas' veteran population resulting from World War II and other wars in which Texas residents participated (House Bill 18, 50th Legislature, Regular Session). In 1985 the agency was renamed the Texas Veterans Commission.
The Texas Veterans Commission was given greater responsibility for training and certifying veterans county service officers in 1989 (Senate Bill 252, 71st Legislature, Regular Session). Temporary duties of studying the feasibility and need for state residential facilities for disabled veterans were added in 1995 (House Bill 340, 74th Legislature, Regular Session) and for state veterans cemeteries in 1979 (House Concurrent Resolution 91, 66th Legislature, Regular Session) and 1997 (Senate Bill 1202, 75th Legislature, Regular Session). In 2005 House Bill 2604 (79th Texas Legislature Regular Session) transferred the Veterans Employment Service from the Texas Workforce Commission to the TVC. This transfer added the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) and the Local Veterans Employment Representative (LVER) program to the TVC’s responsibilities for veterans’ assistance.
The commission was originally composed of five members. A sixth member was added in 1981 after sunset review of the agency (Senate Bill 298, 67th Legislature, Regular Session) and taken away in 2003 to comply with the changes made to Section 30a, Article XVI, Texas Constitution (House Bill 2769, 78th Legislature, Regular Session). The five members are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate for staggered six-year terms. Each must be a citizen and resident of Texas; at least three must be honorably discharged or released from active United States military service; and at least one must be classified as a disabled veteran. (Originally, all five members had to have military service and three of the five members had to have separated from the military as enlisted men.) A person with a less than honorable discharge from military service is not eligible for appointment to the commission. Individuals registered as lobbyists for veteran affairs cannot serve on the commission or as general counsel to the commission. The commission appoints an executive director to administer its policies.
In August 2004 the Veterans Commission had approximately 87 full-time equivalent employees in three programs (Claims Assistance, Central Administration, and Marketing) at agency headquarters in Austin, regional offices in Waco and Houston, and 28 field and hospital offices.
(Sources include: appraisal report completed by State Archives staff,
January 1999, with June 2000 addendum;
The Texas Veterans Commission is responsible for helping Texas veterans receive benefits to which they are entitled. Records are meeting minutes, meeting agenda, speeches, program files, a procedure guide, administrative correspondence, press releases, reports, and printed material, dating 1918, between 1935 and 1937, 1936, 1944, 1947-2006, of the Veterans Commission and its predecessors, the Texas Veterans Affairs Commission, Veterans' State Service Office, and the State Service Office. The records provide information on how the commission fulfills its mission of assisting Texas veterans. Commission meeting minutes document the commission's actions and decisions at its open meetings from its organizational meeting in August 1947 to the present. Commission meeting agenda announce open meetings of the commission and the subjects to be covered during these meetings. Speeches dating back to the existence of the State Service Office publicize the agency's mission through contact with veterans' organizations. Administrative correspondence is created in the process of cooperating with other agencies and organizations in providing programs and services to veterans and their families. The Veterans Housing Assistance Program files provide guidance on the certification of veterans for participation in the Veterans Housing Assistance and Veterans Home Improvement programs and document the coordination of services between the Veterans Commission and Veterans Land Board. The procedure guide explains rules, policies, and procedures for reference by employees, including those working at government hospitals and institutions. Press releases, reports, and printed material publicize information about benefits available to veterans and their families. Subjects covered by the records include cooperation with veterans organizations, coordination with the federal Veterans Administration, federal and state legislation affecting veterans, office locations, personnel issues, the Orphan and Dependent Children's Program and State Hospitals Program, assisting veterans in prison, training of veterans county service officers, Agent Orange programs, the veterans housing programs of the Veterans Land Board, the need for state veterans homes and national and state-owned veterans cemeteries in Texas, programs serving homeless veterans, and the Hazlewood Act providing veterans with financial assistance for higher education.
These records are organized into seven series (six as received from TVC in accordance with its retention schedule, the seventh composed of materials received from the Legislative Reference Library):
(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Tonia J. Wood, March 1999, June 1999, August 2000, December 2000, September 2001, October 2002, October 2003, July 2006
Accession numbers: 1999/052, 1999/053, 1999/167, 2000/062, 2000/167, 2001/074, 2002/026, 2003/022, 2003/025, 2003/196, 2004/043, 2005/039, 2006/069, 2006/380
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on November 10 and 16, 1998; June 14-15, 1999; November 2, 1999; July 11 and 31, 2000; October 23, 2000; September 20, 2001; October 8, 2002; August 12, 2003; October 22, 2003; October 21, 2004; November 10, 2005; and by the Texas Legislative Reference Library on October 9, 2002 and June 28, 2006.
Minutes are received from the agency after approval at the subsequent commission meeting.
These minutes document the Texas Veterans Commission's actions and decisions at its open meetings. Records are minutes, including attachments, for meetings of the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) and its predecessor Texas Veterans Affairs Commission (VAC) dating August 1947 to 2006. Attachments consist of financial statements, appropriations requests, property inventories, legislative history, lists of veterans county services officers, transcripts, conference programs, agenda, resolutions, memorials, greetings, summary of proposed legislation, copy of a proposed bill, proposed rules and forms, a request for proposal, and consultants' studies on state veterans homes and state veterans cemeteries. Minutes list attendees and location of meetings, mention commission approval of financial reports and election of officers, summarize the activity reports presented to the commission by staff of the TVC and VAC, summarize commissioners' comments and decisions and visitors' statements, and note the beginning and ending of executive sessions of the commission. Subjects discussed include cooperation with veterans organizations, coordination with the federal Veterans Administration, federal and state legislation affecting veterans, VAC/TVC office locations, personnel issues, the Orphan and Dependent Children's Program and State Hospitals Program, assisting veterans in prison, training of veterans county service officers, Agent Orange, the veterans housing programs of the Veterans Land Board, the need for state veterans homes and national and state-owned veterans cemeteries in Texas, transfer of the Veterans Employment Service program from the Texas Workforce Commission to TVC, and participation in the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. Agenda are rarely included with these minutes.
Arrangement is chronological as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Commission meeting minutes, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 1999/052, 1999/167, 2000/062, 2001/074, 2002/026, 2003/022, 2003/025, 2004/043, 2005/039, 2006/069, 2006/380
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on November 10, 1998; June 14-15, 1999; November 2, 1999; October 23, 2000; September 20, 2001; October 8, 2002; October 22, 2003; October 21, 2004; November 10, 2005; and by the Texas Legislative Reference Library on October 9, 2002 and June 28, 2006.
Tonia J. Wood, March 1999, June 1999, August 2000, December 2000, September 2001, October 2002, October 2003, July 2006
Texas Veterans Commission meeting agenda announce open meetings of the commission and the subjects to be covered during these meetings. These records are agenda, November 1998-July 2000, listing date, time, and topics to be covered at meetings of the Veterans Commission.
Agenda are arranged in reverse chronological order as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Commission meeting agenda, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2000/167
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on July 11, 2000.
Tonia J. Wood, August 2000
Speeches address benefits available and the services offered by the Texas Veterans Commission to veterans, and summarize activities and responsibilities of the agency. These records are speeches, dating between 1935 and 1937, 1936, 1944, 1947, 1991-1996, 1999, and two undated speeches most likely from the 1990s, by the executive director or members of the Texas Veterans Commission and their predecessors, including the head of the Veterans Affairs Commission, the director of the Veterans' State Service Office, and the State Service Officer. Speeches were presented at American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and AMVETS conventions; openings of U.S. Veterans Administration outpatient clinics; Memorial Day ceremonies; veterans county service officer meetings; and over the radio under sponsorship of American Legion posts. One speech was given at a San Antonio veterans' job fair during the time of base closures in the early 1990s.
The older speeches are arranged in chronological order as maintained by and received from the agency; speeches beginning in the 1990s are generally arranged in reverse chronological order as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Speeches, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2000/167
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on July 11, 2000
Tonia J. Wood, August 2000
Administrative correspondence is created in the process of the Texas Veterans Commission cooperating with other agencies and organizations in providing programs and services to veterans and their families. These records are administrative correspondence, along with a directory, reports, press releases, clippings, Attorney General opinions, memoranda, legislation, copies of statutes, and lists contained in subject files, 1918, 1964, 1979, 1984, 1991-1999, undated, of the Texas Veterans Commission. The files provide information on Texas National Guard units not federalized in World War I, programs serving homeless veterans, Agent Orange programs, the Hazlewood Act providing veterans with financial assistance for higher education, and cooperation with the Texas Veterans Land Board. Correspondents include veterans organizations, federal agencies, state agencies including the Adjutant General's Department, and veterans.
Files are arranged by subject, then in somewhat reverse chronological order, as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Administrative correspondence, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 2000/167, 2003/196
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on July 11 and 31, 2000 and August 12, 2003.
Tonia J. Wood, August 2000, October 2003
The Texas Veterans Commission's Veterans Housing Assistance Program files provide guidance on the certification of veterans for participation in the Veterans Housing Assistance and Veterans Home Improvement programs and document the coordination of services between the Veterans Commission and Veterans Land Board. Correspondence, memos, copies of legislative bills and resolutions, fiscal notes, news releases, copies of program guidelines, clippings, and photographic material, 1983-1988, comprise files concerning the Texas Veterans Commission's participation in the Veterans Housing Assistance Program of the Texas Veterans Land Board. One of the duties of the Texas Veterans Commission is to cooperate with all government and private agencies in securing services or benefits to veterans, their families and dependents. The Veterans Commission assists the Veterans Land Board by certifying veterans as qualified for Veterans Housing Assistance and Home Improvement loans (V.T.C.A., Natural Resources Code, Section 162.003(a)(2)). The Veterans Housing Assistance Program began in 1983 under the auspices of the Veterans Land Board, and the Home Improvement Program was added in 1986.
These records are arranged somewhat chronologically within each file as received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Veterans Housing Assistance Program files, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2003/196
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on August 12, 2003.
Tonia J. Wood, October 2003
The procedure guide details policies and procedures for staff to follow in carrying out the mandate of the Texas Veterans Commission to assist veterans. The record is a procedure guide, revised in June 1998, for employees of the Texas Veterans Commission. Information is included on administrative procedures, operations, and job classifications. Appendices contain operating procedures for commission staff working with veterans at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, military hospitals, state hospitals, state schools, and field offices.
Arrangement is topical as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Procedure guide, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1999/053
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Veterans Commission on November 16, 1998.
Tonia J. Wood, March 1999
The Veterans Commission is responsible for informing members and veterans of the armed forces, their families and dependents, and military and civilian authorities about the existence or availability of benefits to assist veterans and their families. Records are press releases, reports, and printed material, 1950-1953, 1958-1962, 1972, 1974, 1970s, 1985, 1994, prepared by the Texas Veterans Commission and its predecessor, the Texas Veterans Affairs Commission. Press releases, 1970s and 1985, provide notice of commission meetings, events sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars, and scholarship fund recipients. Brochures, 1994 and prior to 1985, and printed booklets, 1950-1960, provide information on benefits and regulations covering veterans and their dependents. Reports list the amount of benefits distributed monthly to each Texas county, covering a number of months between December 1958-January 1962.
These records are arranged by State Archives staff by type of material, then in reverse chronological order.
(Identify the item), Press releases, reports, and printed material, Texas Veterans Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2003/025
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Legislative Reference Library on October 9, 2002.
Tonia J. Wood, October 2002