Iowa Municipal Civil Service Veterans Preference Points

Where a city runs a municipal civil service system under chapter 400, and for any political subdivision job filled through a point-rated qualifying examination under section 35C.1, subsection 4, the preference is points rather than the chapter 35C entitlement to the appointment. The points. Section 400.10, subsection 1: veterans who are citizens and residents of the United States "shall have five percentage points added to the veteran's grade or score attained in qualifying examinations for appointment to positions and five additional percentage points added to the grade or score if the veteran has a service-connected disability or is receiving compensation, disability benefits, or pension under laws administered by the United States department of veterans affairs." Read the second five carefully. It is not conditioned on a percentage. Two independent conditions reach it: a service-connected disability, or receipt of compensation, disability benefits, or pension under laws VA administers. The pension branch is the one worth noticing, because VA pension is a needs-based wartime benefit with no service connection at all. A wartime veteran drawing VA pension and holding no disability rating is entitled to the second five points on the face of the section. A Purple Heart stands in for a disability. "An honorably discharged veteran who has been awarded the Purple Heart incurred in action shall be considered to have a service-connected disability." No rating needed. Three limits in the same subsection. "the percentage points shall be given only upon passing the exam and shall not be the determining factor in passing." So the points are added after you pass, and cannot be used to get you to a passing score. "Veteran's preference percentage points shall be applied once to the final scores used to rank applicants for selection for an interview." Once, to the final ranked score, for interview selection. And subsection 1 excludes, on its face, "promotions and appointments of chief of the police department and chief of the fire department". A serving officer sitting a promotional examination gets no points. Neither does a candidate for either chief position. The definition again drops Iowa residency: "For purposes of this section, 'veteran' means as defined in section 35.1 except that the requirement that the person be a resident of this state shall not apply." A late-discharge examination window, which is unusual and easy to lose. Section 400.10, subsection 2: if a veteran entitled to preference "has been honorably discharged between forty-five days before and sixty days after an examination is administered pursuant to section 400.8, the commission may allow the veteran to be subject to examination up to ninety days following the date the original examination was administered and if appropriate shall add the veteran's name to the list for original appointment pursuant to section 400.11, subsection 1." So a veteran discharged in a window that straddles the examination date may be examined late and added to the eligibility list. Note that the commission "may" allow it, and note that the discharge window and the make-up window are different lengths: the discharge must fall in a 105-day span around the examination, and the make-up examination must happen within 90 days of the original. If your discharge date is anywhere near a city's police or fire examination, write to the civil service commission before the ninety days run. What the list is worth. Section 400.11, subsection 1 requires the commission, within 180 days after the beginning of each examination for original appointment, to certify to the city council a list of the forty highest-standing candidates in order of standing, and vacancies occurring before the next examination "shall be filled from the lists" within thirty days. Where a tie at the last position would qualify more than one person, everyone tied is included. So ranking is the whole game, which is why "applied once to the final scores used to rank applicants" is the sentence that decides what the points are worth.