Veterans Preference in Public Employment
Five points over non-veterans on employment lists — ten for a disabled veteran — and five for certain spouses and surviving spouses. Nobody stacks past ten.
Verified August 19, 2026
What this benefit is
Five points over non-veterans on employment lists — ten for a disabled veteran — and five for certain spouses and surviving spouses. Nobody stacks past ten.
What it's worth: Five points over non-veterans; ten for a disabled veteran; capped at ten
- The ten-point disabled tier uses an impairment test — a physical or mental impairment substantially limiting a major life activity — rather than a VA percentage.
Who is entitled to it
- You separated under honorable conditions.
- You served more than six months of active duty.
- Your home is in Arizona.
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
- 1Claim the preference with the application and the DD214.
- 2If you have a disability, claim the ten-point tier — and note the test is impairment, not a VA percentage, so a low-rated veteran with a substantial impairment may still take ten.
- 3Spouses of veterans with total permanent service-connected disability, and surviving spouses of those who died of service-connected causes or are missing or captured, claim five points in their own right.
- File with
- The hiring agency, with your application
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
- authority · statuteA.R.S. §38-492
Why only one source type: The statute on the legislature's own site states the points, the tiers, the spouse routes and the ten-point cap in terms.
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.