Seminole County Elevates Veterans Services, Names Army Veteran Leader

Seminole County formalized a new Veterans Service Division on November 17, 2025, a structural change intended to centralize assistance and improve customer service for the county's veteran population. The county appointed Joey Cote to lead the division. Cote retired in 2024 as a Sergeant First Class after 21 years in the U.S. Army, and brings operational and leadership experience rooted in deployments to Afghanistan, South Korea, Japan, Hawaii, and Fort Meade in Polk County.

County officials framed the elevation as a move to enhance service delivery for veterans, and to provide a clearer single point of contact for benefits navigation, community connections, and outreach. With more than 35,000 veterans calling Seminole County home, the change alters the institutional landscape by assigning dedicated capacity to veteran issues within county government. That has implications for how benefits are processed, how local agencies coordinate, and how elected leaders are held accountable for veteran services going forward.

Cote's military career included time as a Platoon Sergeant leading more than 80 soldiers and a later role as an Army recruiter. A formative moment from 2010 in South Korea remains part of his approach, when a commanding officer told him, "There's a yes somewhere, go find it." That maxim informs his stated commitment to helping veterans access the benefits they have earned and to fostering connection to local resources and to one another.

For residents this means a restructured county office designed to reduce confusion and improve access to state and federal veteran benefits, to local support programs, and to peer networks. The change also creates a clearer responsibility for measuring customer service outcomes and for reporting back to the public on wait times, outreach, and successful claims assistance. As the division becomes operational, officials and community organizations will be watched for how they coordinate on housing, employment, health care, and transition services.

Visit the Seminole County Veterans Services page to learn more about the team and resources available and to find contact information for the new division.