Education & Employment

New Hampshire Veterans’ Preference in Public Employment

The statute is a tie-breaker and nothing more: preference where a veteran is one of several equally qualified candidates. The 5 and 10 point credits a veteran is told about are in a personnel rule and a Division of Personnel form, not in the statute, and they apply only on entry to state service.

Also called: 283:4, 283:5, 283:6, 283:7, 283:8, 283:9, Per 501.07, equally qualified, tie-breaker, 5 points, 10 points, 2026 chapter 252.

For: Veteran or service member, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

New HampshireState

New Hampshire's veterans' preference is in RSA 283, a chapter titled "Preference of Resident Laborers and Veterans". It has two paragraphs and they set different tests for different employers. RSA 283:4, I covers local government. In public employment of "clerks, office help, mechanics, laborers, inspectors, supervisors, foremen, janitors, peace officers, and relief employees in the construction of public works, public projects and in the conduct of city, town or district departments by a county, city, town, or district", or by a contractor doing that work, "preference shall be given to citizens of the state who have served in the armed forces of the United States, for not less than 90 days, in times of war, and meet the definition of 'veteran' in RSA 21:50, if equally qualified for said employment and if registered in accordance with the provisions of RSA 283:7." Read the conditions. Ninety days. In time of war. Citizen of the state. Meets the RSA 21:50 definition. Equally qualified. And registered under RSA 283:7, which simply means furnishing proof of entitlement to the hiring authority when applying. The list of job categories is closed and dated. It names janitors and foremen and does not name, for example, a planner, an IT administrator or a nurse. A town hiring outside the listed categories is not bound by paragraph I on its words. RSA 283:4, II covers the state and it is both wider and thinner: "When the state is the employer, preference in hiring shall be given to a veteran, as defined in RSA 21:50, if a veteran is one of multiple candidates who are otherwise equally qualified." No 90 days. No wartime period. No citizenship. Just the RSA 21:50 definition. This paragraph was amended by 2026 chapter 252, section 2, effective August 31, 2026, as part of the same conforming act that widened discharge standards elsewhere. Both paragraphs are tie-breakers. "If equally qualified" in paragraph I and "otherwise equally qualified" in paragraph II. Neither adds points, neither reorders a list, and neither guarantees an interview. Where two candidates are genuinely equal the veteran wins, and a hiring manager who concludes the non-veteran is better qualified has complied with the statute. Now the points, which is where published guidance and the statute part company. The Division of Personnel, established under RSA 21-I:42, administers classified state service, and the New Hampshire personnel rules include a rule at Per 501.07 titled "Veterans' Preference" sitting inside the Per 501 part on examination procedures. The Division of Personnel publishes a veteran's preference points form under which a candidate entering classified state service may receive 5 additional points for military duty during a qualifying period of war or armed conflict, or 10 points for a service-connected disability rated at 10 percent or more. The Division also states that war veteran's preference points are received only by candidates entering state government, so they do not apply to a promotion or a transfer within state service. None of that is in RSA 283. The points live in a rule and an administrative form, which means two things for a veteran. They can be changed without legislation. And they attach to an examination score, so they only bite where a scored examination or rating process is actually used, which is not every classified vacancy. RSA 283:5 extends the preference to survivors, in the gendered terms the 1947 and 1949 acts used and which have not been modernised: "any unremarried widow whose husband at the time of his death was a citizen of this state and who served in the armed forces of the United States during any war", and "any wife of a totally disabled veteran who is a citizen of the state and who served in the armed forces of the United States during any war". A widower and a husband are not named. The catalog records the text as enacted. RSA 283:6 is a duty to act rather than merely to prefer: "The hiring authority of the state or any political subdivision thereof shall take any necessary action to secure the employment of said veterans in said service of the state or political subdivisions thereof respectively." RSA 283:8 borrows two definitions from the property tax chapter: "armed forces" means the forces listed in RSA 72:28, IV, and "in time of war" and "during any war" include all the terms used in RSA 72:28, V. So the wartime list that governs the local preference is the same list that governs the RSA 72:28 property tax credit, including its open-ended Persian Gulf period and its post-1975 expeditionary medal catch-all. RSA 283:9 is the unusual part and the reason the chapter is not toothless: "Any person who violates any provision of this subdivision shall be guilty of a violation if a natural person, or guilty of a misdemeanor if any other person." A criminal penalty attached to a hiring preference is rare. It does not create a private right of action or a route to the job, but it is a lever. What New Hampshire has no statute for: removal protection for a veteran in public employment, a hearing right, a layoff retention preference, or a preference in promotion. Several states in this catalog carry all four.

Thresholds

Thresholds for New Hampshire Veterans’ Preference in Public Employment
Gate	Rule
For state employment, any veteran as defined in RSA 21:50	RSA 283:4, II. No wartime service, no 90 days and no state citizenship is required when the state is the employer. Amended by 2026 chapter 252, section 2, effective August 31, 2026.
For local employment, 90 days in time of war, state citizenship, and a listed job category	RSA 283:4, I. The wartime list is borrowed from RSA 72:28, V by RSA 283:8, II, and the job categories named in paragraph I are a closed list. Proof of entitlement must be furnished to the hiring authority under RSA 283:7.
It is a tie-breaker: the candidates must be equally qualified	RSA 283:4, I requires the veteran to be "equally qualified" and paragraph II requires the veteran to be one of multiple candidates "otherwise equally qualified". Neither paragraph awards points, reorders a list or guarantees an interview.
The 5 and 10 point credits are in a personnel rule and a form, not the statute	The New Hampshire personnel rules carry Per 501.07, Veterans’ Preference, within the Per 501 examination procedures part. The Division of Personnel publishes 5 points for qualifying wartime service and 10 points for a service-connected disability rated 10 percent or more, applied only on entry to classified state service and not to promotion.
A violation is a criminal offence, but there is no route to the job	RSA 283:9 makes a violation of the subdivision a violation for a natural person and a misdemeanor for any other person. The chapter creates no private right of action and no removal protection.

Sources

Legislation

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Laws of New Hampshire 2026, chapter 252 Pointed the veteran benefit statutes at the RSA 21:50 discharge standard, widening several at once

Needs reviewEnactedScope changed

Signed 2026-07-02Takes effect 2026-08-31

Introduced Done, 2026-01-07, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2026-01-07, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2026-03-26, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2026-05-07, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2026-07-02, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2026-08-31, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Points several veteran tax credits, the Veterans Home and the employment preference at the RSA 21:50 definition, which reaches a general discharge.

A conforming act with substantive effect. Effective August 31, 2026 it replaced older discharge language with a cross-reference to the definition in RSA 21:50 across the code, touching at least RSA 72:28-b (all veterans’ tax credit), RSA 72:35 (tax credit for service-connected total disability), RSA 72:36-a (exemption for a specially adapted homestead), RSA 119:1 and 119:2 (the New Hampshire Veterans’ Home and the qualifications of its board of managers), RSA 119:6 (veteran employment preference at the home), RSA 283:4 (preference in public employment) and RSA 261:86 (special number plates for former prisoners of war, Purple Heart recipients and Pearl Harbor survivors). Because RSA 21:50, I(a)(2) reaches an honorable discharge, a general discharge under honorable conditions and an uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury, illness or disability, every one of those provisions is now open to a veteran with a general discharge who was previously outside it. RSA 72:28, the standard and optional wartime credit, was not amended and still requires an honorable discharge, so the two neighbouring property tax credits now carry different discharge tests. Tracked because no published New Hampshire benefit guidance reflects the change, a veteran refused before August 31, 2026 should apply again, and because RSA 72:27-a, IV arguably requires a town that previously adopted RSA 72:28-b, 72:35 or 72:36-a to vote again before the wider eligibility applies locally, which is unresolved.

Sponsor

Touches N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:28-b · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:35 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:36-a · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 119:1, 119:2 and 119:6 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 283:4 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 261:86

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Official record

Updated

Last updated 2026-09-29.

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Disclaimer

VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.