Who Counts as a Veteran in Michigan

Section 35.61 exists to stop exactly the problem it has not stopped. Its act is called the uniformity of service dates act and it says that for purposes of all acts of the state relative to veterans, "veteran" means an individual who served in the United States Armed Forces, including the reserve components, and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable, and includes an individual who died while on active duty. Three things make that the widest definition in this catalog. There is no minimum number of days, so a member who served a single enlistment weekend and was medically separated is inside it. The reserve components are named. And the discharge floor is "other than dishonorable", so a general discharge, and an other than honorable discharge, both qualify; only a dishonorable discharge is excluded on the face of the section. Section 35.62 adds a rule worth knowing where a benefit has a length-of-service test: veterans who served in more than one period of war service may combine their active duty days of service to satisfy the length of active duty service required by veteran benefit statutes. And then five separate acts define the word again. The preference in employment act, at 35.401(2), requires a veteran under 35.61 who was honorably discharged. A general discharge under honorable conditions is a live argument here in a way it is not under 35.61. The property tax exemption, at 211.7b(4)(c), requires a discharge or release under honorable conditions. That covers a general discharge and excludes an other than honorable one, so it sits between 35.61 and 35.401. The income tax exemption for a disabled veteran, at 206.30(3)(b), names an honorable or general discharge expressly, which is the clearest drafting of the five, and asks only for active military, naval, marine, coast guard or air service. The Veterans Trust Fund, at 35.602, requires a veteran under 35.61 who is a Michigan legal resident or was one immediately before entering service, who served at least 180 days of active service during a period of war, and who was honorably discharged. It adds a residency clause with teeth: an individual whose legal residence was in Michigan before entering service does not meet the requirement if they later leave the state for more than two years. There is a carve-out for separation for a physical or mental disability incurred in the line of duty before 180 days. The private employer preference act, at 35.1201(2)(b), and the veteran right to employment services act, at 35.1092(c), both require a veteran under 35.61 who served at least 180 days of active duty or has a service-connected disability. The Children of Veterans Tuition Grant Act adds a sixth term, "Michigan veteran", defined in 390.1342(f) entirely by residence rather than by service or discharge. The practical consequence. A Michigan veteran who asks "am I a veteran under state law" has no single answer, and the answer that matters depends on which counter they are standing at. Someone with a general discharge and 90 days of service is a veteran for the driver licence designation, the income tax exemption and the county discharge record, and is not a veteran for the Trust Fund or for the private employer preference act. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs does not publish a comparison of the six.