History of the Franklin County Veterans Service Commission
On February 13, 1862, the General Assembly of the State of Ohio memorialized its decision to provide "for the relief of the necessities to .[veteran]. who now are, or hereafter may be, in the service of the state or the United States.". That decision, to provide "for the aid and financial assistance" of veterans, still stands.
The original legislation appears to have been in response to the concern for the families of those who enlisted, or volunteered during the Civil War. Since that time, it has been subject to continuous revision in seeking to address the needs of soldiers.
The Act of 1862 created a fund which provided for the relief of the families of "volunteers who now are, or hereafter may be, in the service of this state or the United States...." Volunteers included soldiers enlisted since April 1,1861 in the regular army of the United States and those who "may not have been regularly mustered into the service of the state or of the United States" but who were killed, disabled or captured in "any engagements with the rebels."
In May 1886, after the Civil War was over and reconstruction was well along, the Legislature enacted 83 Ohio Law 232, which created the Veterans Service Commission (formerly Soldiers Relief Commission) and became the philosophical cornerstone of all subsequent legislation leading to the current Ohio Revised Code, Section 5901.11. The current law, Title 59, Ohio Revised Code (ORC) authorizes the Board of County Commissioners to make the necessary levy, not to exceed five-tenths of a mill per dollar on the assessed value of the property of the county, for funding the Veterans Service Commission.