Who Counts as a Veteran in Oklahoma

Oklahoma writes one general definition and then departs from it in the programs that matter most. The general definition. Title 72, section 2 says "ex-service person", "veteran" and "war veteran" in the soldiers and sailors title mean anyone who "has served the full obligation for active duty, Reserve or National Guard service in the uniformed service", or "received an early discharge for a medical condition, hardship, or reduction in force", and "has been separated or discharged from such service honorably or under honorable conditions". The uniformed services are borrowed from the election code, Title 26, section 14-137: the active and reserve components of the six armed forces, the Merchant Marine, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service and NOAA, and the National Guard. Two consequences follow. Guard and reserve service counts on its own, with no federal active duty needed. And a general discharge under honorable conditions counts, while an other than honorable discharge does not. The Veterans Registry, the burial programs, the veteran vendor preference and the Office of Veterans Placement all use this definition. The disability benefits use different words. The homestead exemption in the Constitution, the sales tax exemption, the vehicle excise tax exemption and the free driver licence all require a person "honorably discharged from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or Oklahoma National Guard". Read strictly, "honorably discharged" is narrower than "under honorable conditions". The veterans agency's registry treats honorable and general under honorable conditions alike for the licence emblem and the $5 plate, but nothing the state publishes says whether a general discharge meets "honorably discharged" for the 100 percent benefits. None of them requires wartime service. The old wartime definition survives. Title 72, section 67.13a still defines "war veterans" by periods running from 1917 to the present Gulf War era, with a 90-day minimum for later periods and an exclusion for training duty, and says they are entitled to tax exemptions, special permits and "veterans' preferences for state employment". Section 67.13b extends the same to anyone with more than 90 days of active duty after January 31, 1955 and a discharge other than dishonorable, "except as provided in Section 840.15 of Title 74", a section that was renumbered decades ago. The state hiring preference those sections speak of was repealed in 2022; see the state employment entry. Program by program. The special disabled veteran hiring route needs a war veteran rated 30 percent. The Veterans Home admission rule needs 90 days of active duty unless discharged for a service-connected disability. The wartime high school diploma, the technology center tuition waiver and the free admission to parks each carry their own tests, described in those entries. What to do with this. Check the discharge wording on your DD-214 against the words of the program. A general discharge meets the general definition; for the 100 percent benefits ask the agency before assuming either way. An other than honorable discharge meets almost nothing in Oklahoma, so a discharge upgrade matters more here than in states that use "other than dishonorable".