Who Counts as a Veteran in New Mexico

Read this entry first. New Mexico writes a definition of veteran into almost every programme, and they disagree about discharge, about reserve service and about length of service. The definition most programmes borrow. Section 9-22-3, subsection D of the Veterans' Services Department Act: a veteran is a New Mexico resident who was regularly enlisted, drafted, inducted or commissioned in the armed forces and accepted for and assigned to active duty; or in a reserve component or the Army or Air National Guard and "accepted for and assigned to duty for a minimum of six continuous years"; or a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service or the NOAA Corps on active duty in defense of the United States; and "was not separated from such service under circumstances amounting to dishonorable discharge". The state parks pass in section 16-2-7.1 and resident tuition in section 21-1-4.5 repeat it word for word. There is no wartime period and no minimum length of active duty. An other than honorable discharge, and on the words a bad conduct discharge from a special court-martial, meets it. One gap the 2024 clean-up left. House Bill 302 of 2024, which is Laws 2024, chapter 21, added the Space Force to the armed forces definitions across the statutes, and the 2025 parks act and the tuition section both list the "space force reserve". Section 9-22-3 itself still lists the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard reserves and the Guard, and not the Space Force reserve. A Space Force reservist with six continuous years who is refused under section 9-22-3 should point to the parallel sections that include it. The property tax exemptions use two more tests. The veteran exemption in section 7-37-5 needs 90 days of continuous active duty, or less if discharged for a service-connected disability, and an honourable discharge, which subsection H defines as anything except "a dishonorable discharge or a discharge for misconduct". The disabled veteran exemption in section 7-37-5.1 defines honourable as anything except "a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge". So a general discharge meets both, and an other than honorable discharge for misconduct can fail the first and pass the second. Reserve service with no active duty meets neither. State hiring, section 10-9-13.2, says "honorably discharged" and does not define it. The State Personnel Office rule, 1.7.5.11 NMAC, repeats the words. The resident veteran business preference in section 13-1-22 asks for a DD-214 "with an honorable discharge" or VA verification as a veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned business. The military licensing section, 61-1-34, defines a veteran as anyone with "an honorable discharge or separation from military service". The widest door. The Human Rights Act protects "military status", which section 28-1-2, subsection EE defines as being a member or "a veteran of the armed forces or state defense force", with no discharge test at all, and extends to spouses and children. What to do with this. When a New Mexico programme refuses you, ask which section the refusal rests on and read that section's own words. The Department of Veterans' Services certifies eligibility for most state benefits, and its service officers help at no charge.