(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is planning to consolidate the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown into one agency. The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs helps Iowa veterans and their families secure military benefits and it oversees the Iowa Veterans Cemetery. According to a news release from the governor’s office, department director Steve Lukan is “leaving for employment in the private sector” and has resigned.

Reynolds has appointed Iowa Veterans Home Commandant Matthew Peterson as interim director of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The governor says she’s exploring a merger to house all veterans services in one agency.

The Iowa Veterans Home sits on a 150 acre campus and has about 500 residents. It’s the fifth largest veterans home in the country. The Department of Veterans Affairs has offices at Camp Dodge in Johnston. The agency’s website
still lists Lukan as its executive director.