Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Alabama benefits
employmentstate

Five Points, Ten With a Rating — and the Tie-Break on the Register

Five points added to any earned rating in the entrance examination for the state classified service for an honorable discharge, ten where a compensable service-connected disability exists, and preference over non-veterans holding the same rating on the employment register.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

Five points added to any earned rating in the entrance examination for the state classified service for an honorable discharge, ten where a compensable service-connected disability exists, and preference over non-veterans holding the same rating on the employment register.

What it's worth: 5 points on the examination rating, or 10 with a compensable service-connected disability

  • The points are added to an earned rating — they raise a passing score, they do not create one.
  • The ten-point tier asks for the present existence of a service-connected disability with entitlement to pension, compensation or disability allowance under existing laws, not merely a rating on paper.
  • The register tie-break carries no dollar value but is often what decides the appointment.

Who is entitled to it

  • The preference reaches the veteran, and the ten-point preference may be extended to a wife or widow.
  • You were honorably discharged from the armed forces.
  • Your home is in Alabama.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Claim the preference when you apply and sit the examination — not after the register is set
  1. 1Claim the preference on the application itself. The points attach to the examination rating, so claiming after the register is published is claiming too late.
  2. 2Send the DD Form 214 to establish an honorable discharge for the five-point tier.
  3. 3For the ten-point tier, show the present existence of a service-connected disability with entitlement to pension, compensation or disability allowance. A Benefit Summary Letter showing service connection and the rating is the usual proof.
  4. 4A wife or widow of a disabled or deceased veteran should ask specifically about the extension of the ten-point preference — it is in the same subsection and is easy for an office to overlook.
  5. 5If you and a non-veteran end up with the same rating, say so. Veterans take preference on the register over non-veterans with the same rating.
Form
The state classified service application, with proof of service
File with
State Personnel Department, at application
Documents you will need
dd214 · va benefit summary letter
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe five points are not limited to a war era or to a recent discharge. The compilation reads "honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces at any time".
CorrectionThe register preference is separate from the points and does not depend on a disability. Even where two candidates finish level, the veteran takes preference over the non-veteran.
Worth knowingThis is the classified service. Private employers here are separately authorised to keep a written veterans preference policy under §§25-1-50 to 25-1-52, but that is permission for the employer, not a right for the applicant.

Sources

Why only one source type: The state veterans agency’s own compilation of the law is the source read this session. The statutory text at §36-26-15(b) itself has not been read here, and no State Personnel Department procedure has been paired with it, so nothing about how the register is administered is claimed.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.