Oklahoma State Jobs: Guaranteed Interviews Through the Office of Veterans Placement

The veterans' preference points that older guides describe no longer exist. What changed. House Bill 1146 of 2021, Laws 2021, chapter 206, created the Civil Service and Human Capital Modernization Act from January 1, 2022 and abolished the classified service, and Laws 2022, chapter 243 repealed Title 74, sections 840-4.10 through 840-4.16, including the preference in section 840-4.14, from May 11, 2022. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services says plainly: "Veterans Preference and points no longer apply to the hiring of state employees." In their place Title 62, section 34.301 directs it to make rules "including creating an Office of Veterans Placement to offer counseling, assessment and assistance to veterans seeking state employment". What the rule gives you. Oklahoma Administrative Code 260:130-23-1: veterans who use the Office of Veterans Placement "shall be guaranteed a reasonable offer of an interview for qualifying state service positions" that the office decides are an appropriate match. The office's page puts it as "up to two interviews for qualified positions with the same job title at each applicable agency within the previous 12 months", and an agency that finds a poor fit may decline further interviews for the same title. It also offers counselling, resume help and job search help. Upload the Veterans Placement Eligibility Form with every application; the office says leaving it off can cost the interview. Complaints about an agency's hiring go to the office first. Who is eligible, and three descriptions of the discharge test. The rule defines veteran as someone who served the full obligation of active duty, reserve or Guard service, or received an early medical, hardship or reduction in force release, "and has been separated or discharged from such service honorably or under honorable conditions", which matches Title 72, section 2. The office's web page says the DD-214, discharge certificate or NGB-22 "must state the character of service as honorable". Its frequently asked questions say both "honorably discharged" and "honorably or under honorable conditions". The rule governs, so a general discharge under honorable conditions qualifies; cite rule 260:130-1-2 if it is refused. Where it does not apply. Positions with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Legislature, Attorney General and district attorneys, elected officials and political appointees, the judiciary, up to 5 percent of an agency's staff designated executive management, and temporary and seasonal positions. A 2026 act lets the Department of Veterans Affairs hire seasonal employees without benefits. The disabled veteran route. The Special Disabled Veterans Employment Act, Title 72, sections 401 to 404, lets agencies hire a "special disabled veteran" in competitive and non-competitive jobs without entrance examinations or the ordinary hiring procedures, on a one-year probation. A special disabled veteran is honorably discharged, meets the war veteran periods in section 67.13a, is rated 30 percent or more, has lived in Oklahoma a year and is in the Veterans Registry. Section 403 still says the exemption is from "Sections 840-4.12 and 840-4.13 of Title 74", which were repealed in 2022. The placement rule says it does not apply to special disabled veterans hired under sections 401 to 404, who may elect to use the placement office instead. Other public employers. Section 3-201 of Title 29 still says that, all things being equal, veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War "shall be appointed" game wardens.