Who Counts as a Veteran in Arkansas

Read this entry first. Arkansas writes a separate definition of veteran into each program, and the programs disagree about discharge, length of service and whether Guard and reserve time counts. State hiring. Arkansas Code section 21-3-302, subsection (b), the Veterans Preference Law, counts "a person honorably discharged from a tour of active duty, other than active duty for training only", and also "any person who has served honorably in the National Guard or a reserve component of the United States Armed Forces for a period of at least six (6) years, whether the person has retired or been discharged or not". That second route is unusual: a Guard member with six honorable years and no federal activation is a veteran for state jobs. Private and local employers. Section 11-15-102, paragraph (6), which governs the voluntary preference a private or local government employer may adopt, uses the federal test: more than 180 days of active duty with an other than dishonorable discharge, or a discharge for a service-connected disability, or a reservist ordered to active duty other than for training. The veterans homes and cemeteries. Both Department of Veterans Affairs rules, the veterans home admissions rule under section 20-81-105 and the burial rule under section 20-81-112, adopt 38 U.S.C. 4211(4): more than 180 days of active duty and an other than dishonorable discharge, or a discharge for a service-connected disability, or a reservist on certain federal orders during war or a campaign. The home rule adds 20-year Guard and reserve retirees. The department's own web page for the homes says "Honorable discharge", which is narrower than its rule. Licences and occupations. The driver licence designation in section 27-16-812 accepts "honorable" or "general under honorable conditions". The occupational licensing chapter, section 17-4-103, paragraph (5), counts any "former member of the United States uniformed services discharged under conditions other than dishonorable", which reaches the Public Health Service and NOAA corps. The 10 percent credit on state licensing examinations in section 17-1-101 needs an honorable discharge, and until Act 508 of 2025 it named only the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Narrower still. The Veterans' Child Welfare Service in section 20-81-101 serves children of "honorably discharged Arkansas veterans". Veterans service officers must themselves have been honorably discharged under section 25-43-1605. The wartime diploma in sections 6-16-133 and 6-16-134 needs an honorable discharge and 18 consecutive months of wartime service. The widest door. A veterans treatment specialty court under section 16-101-103 is open to anyone who "is a veteran or a service member of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard" with a substance use or mental health disorder. No discharge characterisation is named. Space Force. Act 508 of 2025 added the Space Force to dozens of Arkansas definitions, including the income tax exemptions for military pay and retirement, the licensing examination credit and the reservist protections, from August 5, 2025. What to do with this. When a program refuses you, ask which section it relies on and read that section's own words. A general discharge satisfies most Arkansas tests but not state hiring, the diploma or the child welfare fund. An other than honorable discharge satisfies the homes, the cemeteries, private preference policies, occupational licensing and the treatment court.