Veterans Services — Brevard County, Florida

Brevard County Veteran Services runs three offices, in Merritt Island, at Palm Bay City Hall and on Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera, each open 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM on one county phone line, 321-633-2012.

The offices belong to the county Housing and Human Services Department, whose Veteran Services page gives fax 321-637-5432 and the email BrevardVSO@BrevardFL.gov alongside the shared phone number. The Viera office shares the 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way address of the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, and the Palm Bay office is the closest of the three to Malabar, Grant-Valkaria, Micco and Barefoot Bay.

The county describes the work in Viera, Merritt Island and Palm Bay as direct assistance to all of Brevard's veterans and families so they receive the full benefits earned by military service, and it extends that help to eligible surviving family members.

The Palm Bay office inside Palm Bay City Hall at 120 Malabar Road is a partnership between the City of Palm Bay and the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, and the city announced it was scheduled to open on January 2, 2024.

The City of Palm Bay announcement says appointments are required for all services, are made through Brevard County by calling (321) 633-2012, option 1, and that the office keeps hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The city describes the aim as dedicated assistance and support for veterans and their families residing in the Palm Bay area, with help on benefits, health care and employment questions.

The two governments describe the room differently. The City of Palm Bay page places the office in Building A, Room 114A, with the ZIP code 32907, while the county Veteran Services page lists Community and Economic Development Room 229 in the Palm Bay City Hall building, ZIP 32909. Both point to the same City Hall campus on Malabar Road, and either way the appointment is booked through the county line.

Veteran service officers at the Viera, Merritt Island and Palm Bay offices complete and submit claims for VA and State of Florida veterans benefits and check that each claim carries the supporting evidence it needs, which the county says improves the chance of approval.

The Brevard County Veteran Services team lists five common claim types: service-connected disability compensation, non-service-connected pension, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for survivors, survivors pension, and enrollment in VA health care. Help for surviving spouses and dependents is part of the same work at the Viera, Merritt Island and Palm Bay desks.

Who may hold the job is set by state law. Under section 292.11 of the Florida Statutes, a board of county commissioners such as Brevard's may employ a county veteran service officer, who must be a veteran or the surviving spouse of a veteran and must hold a two-year degree, or a high school diploma plus 4 years of administrative experience. The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs certifies candidates, runs the training program and administers the test each officer must pass before handling claims for Brevard veterans. The same statute lets a city such as Palm Bay employ its own city veteran service officer.

Brevard County Veteran Services asks first-time visitors in Viera, Merritt Island or Palm Bay to bring the Social Security number, the DD-214 or report of separation and, for claims, the VA claim or file number, plus documents specific to the claim.

The list comes from the county support documents table, which notes that each claim type requires some support documentation. Pension claims filed at the Palm Bay and Merritt Island desks carry the longest lists, adding proof of net worth and monthly income, while survivors claims add the death certificate and the full marriage record.

Several veteran benefits in Brevard are handled outside the veteran services offices: the Tax Collector issues veteran license designations and plates, the Property Appraiser handles the disabled veteran exemption, and the VA runs a clinic in Viera.

At Brevard County Tax Collector counters such as Cogan Drive in Palm Bay, a veteran can add the Veteran designation to a Florida license or ID card by presenting a DD-214 showing honorable discharge, and a replacement card that only adds the designation is free (FLHSMV military and veterans page). Veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability qualify for a no-fee license or ID card and a no-fee DV license plate, and homeless veterans, their spouses and children are eligible for a free Florida ID card. The FLHSMV fee schedule adds that veterans who show proof of status are not charged the $6.25 tax collector service fee on the listed driver license transactions.

Property tax relief runs through the Brevard County Property Appraiser. Section 196.081 of the Florida Statutes exempts from taxation the homestead of an honorably discharged veteran whose service-connected disability is certified as total and permanent by the federal government, if the veteran is a permanent Florida resident on January 1 of the tax year.

VA care in the county centers on the Viera VA Clinic at 2900 Veterans Way, Viera, part of VA Orlando Health Care, which lists hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends. Health care enrollment paperwork can be prepared with the county officers on Judge Fran Jamieson Way before a first clinic visit.

Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, at 5525 U.S. Highway 1 in Mims in north Brevard, is the VA national cemetery in the county, covering 318 acres.

For the Mims site, the National Cemetery Administration records that the VA bought the land in July 2012 for $2.1 million, that the cemetery was dedicated on November 20, 2015, and that the first burial took place on January 12, 2016. Its first construction phase provides about 17,000 gravesites for casket and cremation burial, with a front entrance on U.S. Route 1, a public information center with an electronic gravesite locator, a memorial wall and committal shelters.

Drivers from Palm Bay, Melbourne or Titusville reach it from I-95 Exit 231, turning south on U.S. 1; the cemetery is two miles down on the left. The grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset, and the Mims office is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed on federal holidays. Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Brevard County Veteran Services and City of Palm Bay websites.