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Hiring Preference That Also Reaches Promotion and Retention

State agencies must give preference in hiring, promotion AND retention to qualified veterans, disabled veterans, spouses of disabled veterans and the surviving spouse of a deceased qualified veteran — but only to applicants who volunteer their proof.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

State agencies must give preference in hiring, promotion AND retention to qualified veterans, disabled veterans, spouses of disabled veterans and the surviving spouse of a deceased qualified veteran — but only to applicants who volunteer their proof.

What it's worth: Preference in hiring, promotion and retention across state departments

  • The preference is not automatic. The portal states that an applicant must voluntarily submit official proof of status to receive it.
  • It does not reach elected officials, political appointees, or anyone holding a strictly confidential administrative or secretarial position reporting to the appointing officer.
  • No point value appears on the portal page read here — it describes a preference across three decisions rather than a numeric score.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are inside one of the classes the preference names.
  • Your discharge is within the range the preference uses.
  • The preference names the spouse of a disabled veteran and the surviving spouse of a deceased qualified veteran.
  • Your home is in this state.

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: With each application
  1. 1Claim it on every application. The portal says proof is submitted voluntarily, which means an applicant who stays silent is treated as having no preference at all.
  2. 2Attach official proof — a DD214, a current letter from the veterans administration, or other official documentation the agency accepts.
  3. 3If you are a spouse or surviving spouse claiming through the veteran, ask the agency’s personnel office in writing what it needs from you; the portal routes those questions to the individual agency rather than answering them centrally.
  4. 4Remember it is not only a hiring rule. The preference is stated for promotion and retention as well, which matters in a reduction in force.
Form
The veteran’s preference section of the state application
File with
The hiring agency, through the state careers portal
Documents you will need
dd214 · va benefit summary letter
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is not a hiring-only rule. The portal states the preference applies to hiring, promotion and retention — the retention limb is the one nobody claims, and it is the one that matters when posts are being cut.
Worth knowingA surviving spouse is named as a class in their own right. The portal does not require the surviving spouse to have been the veteran’s dependant.
Known gapNo point value is published on the page read here, and no statutory citation appears on it. Whether the preference is scored, and how, comes from the individual agency’s personnel office.

Sources

Why only one source type: The state careers portal states the covered classes, the exclusions and the voluntary-proof rule in its own words. The legislature host refuses this project’s tools, so the statute text was not read alongside it.

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