§ 173. Election to administer veteran assistance by county public
welfare district; organization. 1. When a majority of the veteran
organizations in a county, by and through their respective county
divisions, file with the clerk of the board of the supervisors of the
county, a petition addressed to the board of supervisors of the county
requesting that veteran assistance be administered by such county, the
board of supervisors may, by resolution passed by a majority vote,
establish a division or bureau, or direct that a division or bureau be
established, within the county department of public welfare, and under
the direction of the county commissioner of public welfare, for the
purpose of administering veteran assistance.

2. In the event that the county board of supervisors shall pass such a
resolution, it shall also authorize and direct the county commissioner
of public welfare to appoint a veteran, as herein defined, as deputy
commissioner or director of the veteran assistance division or bureau,
as the case may be.

3. The county commissioner shall transfer to the veteran assistance
division or bureau so much of the staff of the county welfare department
as may be necessary or practicable to administer and execute the
functions, powers and duties assigned to such division or bureau.
Officers and employees shall be transferred without further examination
or qualification and they shall retain their respective civil service
classification and status. The civil service qualifications for all
positions in the veteran assistance division or bureau shall be the same
as required for the same or similar positions in the other divisions or
bureaus of the county department of welfare, except that the
qualifications for the position of the deputy commissioner or director,
as the case may be, shall also require that he be a veteran.

4. The salaries or compensation paid to employees of the veteran
assistance division or bureau shall be subject to reimbursement by the
state under the same terms and conditions as are applicable to other
employees of the county department of public welfare under the
provisions of this chapter.

5. Upon recommendation of the county commissioner of public welfare,
the county board of supervisors may authorize, by resolution passed by a
majority vote, the veteran assistance division or bureau to administer,
in addition to veteran assistance, such other forms or categories of
public assistance and care as may be practicable or necessary, provided
that sufficient qualified staff shall be available for transfer or
assignment to the veteran assistance division or bureau to execute and
perform the additional functions and duties so assigned to such division
or bureau.

6. The board of supervisors may also authorize the commissioner of
public welfare to establish and operate a branch of the veteran
assistance division or bureau in each or any major population center in
the county.