Education & Employment

Nevada Veteran Preference in State Employment

The strongest interview mandate in this catalog. An appointing authority must interview every qualified veteran with a service-connected disability, and must give veterans without a service-connected disability at least 22 percent of the interviews for the position, rounded up.

Also called: NRS 284.260, NRS 284.265, NRS 284.107, 22 percent, pools of eligible persons, interview quota, letter of recommendation, Nevada National Guard, NRS 338.13843.

For: Veteran or service member, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

NevadaState

Nevada does not award preference points and does not run a tie-breaker. It requires interviews, by percentage, and it puts the requirement in statute. NRS 284.265, subsection 2, is the operative provision. An appointing authority shall: "(a) Interview for the position each veteran with a service-connected disability who is a qualified applicant for the position; and (b) If there are veterans without a service-connected disability who are qualified applicants for the position, interview for the position a number of such veterans that is equal to at least 22 percent of the total number of qualified applicants interviewed for the position or, if there is not a sufficient number to reach that percentage, interview for the position each such veteran who is a qualified applicant for the position. For the purpose of calculating percentages pursuant to this paragraph, percentages that are not whole numbers must be rounded to the next highest whole number." Take paragraph (a) first. Every qualified applicant who is a veteran with a service-connected disability gets an interview. Not one of them, all of them. If nine such veterans apply and are qualified, nine interviews are owed. Compare South Carolina, where a Department of Administration policy requires one qualified veteran to be interviewed per posting, and New Hampshire, where the statute gives a preference only where candidates are equally qualified. Then paragraph (b). Veterans without a service-connected disability are guaranteed at least 22 percent of the interview slots, with fractions rounded up. If an agency interviews ten qualified applicants, at least three of them must be non-disabled veterans, because 22 percent of ten is 2.2 and that rounds to 3. If fewer than that number of veterans applied and qualified, all of them are interviewed. Note how the two paragraphs interact. Paragraph (a) interviews are mandatory and uncapped; paragraph (b) is a floor expressed against the total number interviewed. An agency cannot satisfy paragraph (b) by counting the disabled veterans it was already required to interview under paragraph (a), because paragraph (b) speaks of "veterans without a service-connected disability". What the preference does not do. It does not guarantee an offer, does not order the eligible pool, does not add points to a score, and does not create a removal protection or a layoff retention right. It gets a veteran into the room. The pool preference is separate and sits in NRS 284.260. In establishing the pools of eligible persons from which appointments are made under NRS 284.255, "an appointing authority must give a preference to" four groups: Veterans. Widows and widowers of persons killed in the line of duty while on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States. Widows and widowers of veterans. "A member of the Nevada National Guard who submits a letter of recommendation from the commanding officer of the member's unit." That fourth group is unusual in two ways. It reaches a currently serving Guard member rather than a veteran, and it conditions the preference on a document the member has to go and get. A Guard member applying for a state job should ask their unit commander for the letter before applying, because without it the statute gives them nothing. The pool preference is stated as a bare "must give a preference" with no mechanism, so it does the work of a thumb on the scale at the shortlisting stage while NRS 284.265 does the enforceable work at the interview stage. Definitions. NRS 284.015, subsection 10 defines "veteran" for chapter 284, on the same three-route pattern as NRS 417.005, and subsection 11 provides that "veteran with a service-connected disability" takes the meaning ascribed in NRS 338.13843 and "includes a veteran who is deemed to be a veteran with a service-connected disability pursuant to NRS 417.0187". That cross-reference matters: NRS 417.0187 provides that for any state or local benefit for a veteran with a service-connected disability the veteran is deemed disabled to the extent the Federal Government determined, and makes a VA or Department of Defense certificate showing the disability and its total percentage or compensation sufficient evidence. So the proof a veteran already holds is the proof the hiring agency must accept. Applicants come through a centralised system. NRS 284.265, subsection 1 requires appointing authorities, except as otherwise provided in NRS 284.305, to use the centralised system the Administrator establishes under NRS 284.107 to obtain applicants for a classified position. A veteran should make sure the veteran and disability status is recorded in that system rather than only in a cover letter, because the interview obligations run on qualified applicant status as the system records it. Chapter 284 also builds in a public accountability mechanism, which is rare. The Division is required to provide the Department of Veterans Services with and make available to the public a monthly report listing the names of all veterans and, to the extent available, widows and widowers hired into the classified and unclassified service, stating whether each veteran was hired, and to report each calendar quarter on the total combined numbers. A veteran who suspects an agency is ignoring the interview quota has a published data series to point at.

Thresholds

Thresholds for Nevada Veteran Preference in State Employment
Gate	Rule
Every qualified applicant who is a veteran with a service-connected disability gets an interview	NRS 284.265, subsection 2(a). The obligation is to interview each such veteran, not one of them, and it is uncapped.
Veterans without a service-connected disability get at least 22 percent of interviews	NRS 284.265, subsection 2(b). The floor is measured against the total number of qualified applicants interviewed, fractions round up, and if fewer veterans applied then all of them are interviewed.
Pool preference for veterans, their widows and widowers, and a Guard member with a commander’s letter	NRS 284.260. A Nevada National Guard member qualifies only on submitting a letter of recommendation from the commanding officer of the member’s unit.
Proof of disability follows the federal determination	"Veteran with a service-connected disability" takes its meaning from NRS 338.13843 and includes a veteran deemed such under NRS 417.0187, which makes a VA or Department of Defense certificate sufficient evidence.
It secures an interview, not an offer	Neither NRS 284.260 nor NRS 284.265 orders the eligible pool, awards points, guarantees an appointment, or creates removal or layoff protection.

Sources

Legislation

Law the tracker is watching for this entry. See the legislation tracker for every jurisdiction.

Laws of Nevada 2023, at page 3571, amending Nev. Rev. Stat. § 284.265 Set a percentage interview quota for veterans in classified state employment

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

Signed 2023-06-16

Introduced Done, 2023-03-27, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2023-03-27, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2023-06-05, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2023-06-05, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2023-06-16, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2023-06-16, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Requires an interview for every qualified disabled veteran and for other qualified veterans up to at least 22 percent of those interviewed.

NRS 284.265, subsection 2 now requires an appointing authority to interview for the position each veteran with a service-connected disability who is a qualified applicant, and, where there are qualified applicants who are veterans without a service-connected disability, to interview a number of such veterans equal to at least 22 percent of the total number of qualified applicants interviewed for the position, or all of them if there are not enough to reach that percentage, with percentages that are not whole numbers rounded to the next highest whole number. The section was amended in 2017 and again in 2023, and NRS 284.260 was amended in the same 2023 session to add a member of the Nevada National Guard who submits a letter of recommendation from the commanding officer of the member’s unit to the groups given preference in establishing pools of eligible persons. Tracked because it is the only percentage interview quota in this catalog and is materially stronger than the one-interview policy in South Carolina or the equally-qualified tie-breaker in New Hampshire, and because published descriptions of Nevada veteran employment benefits still describe it as a preference rather than as a mandatory interview obligation. The obligations run on qualified applicant status as the centralised system established under NRS 284.107 records it, so a veteran whose status is recorded only in a cover letter may not be counted.

Sponsor

Touches Nev. Rev. Stat. § 284.265 · Nev. Rev. Stat. § 284.260

Official record

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 417.0187 (added to NRS by 2017) Made the federal disability determination control every state and local veteran benefit

Needs reviewEnactedScope changed

Signed 2017-05-29

Introduced Done, 2017-02-13, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2017-02-13, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2017-04-18, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2017-05-22, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2017-05-29, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2017-05-29, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Makes the federal disability determination, shown by a VA or DoD certificate, sufficient for every state and local veteran benefit.

Added NRS 417.0187. Notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary, for the purpose of determining eligibility for any benefit, program or assistance provided by the State or a local government to a veteran, or a business owned or operated by a veteran, with a service-connected disability, the veteran is deemed to be a veteran with a service-connected disability to the extent determined by the Federal Government, and a certificate from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense indicating the service-connected disability and its total percentage or compensation is sufficient evidence both of the disability and of its extent. The section is cross-referenced expressly by NRS 502.072 for hunting and fishing licences, by NRS 482.377 for disabled veteran licence plates, and by the chapter 284 definition of a veteran with a service-connected disability used in the state employment interview quota. Tracked because it binds county assessors and the Department of Motor Vehicles as well as state agencies, because the phrase "or compensation" is the only route by which individual unemployability reaches any Nevada veteran benefit given that no benefit section mentions it, and because it sits in unresolved tension with NRS 361.091, subsection 7, which directs that a property tax exemption be based on "the total of those combined percentages" where more than one permanent service-connected disability is documented. One provision points at the VA combined rating and the other reads as arithmetic addition, and the difference is a whole exemption tier.

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.