Section 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.