South Dakota Veterans Preference in Public Employment

South Dakota's preference is not a points system. Section 3-3-1 says that in all public departments and subdivisions and upon all public works of the state and of the counties, municipalities and school districts, any veteran as defined in 33A-2-1 who is a citizen of the United States "shall receive preference for appointment, employment, and promotion". There is no schedule of five and ten points to be added to an examination score, which is how the federal system and most state systems work. What the statute gives is a preference at the decision, not a bonus on a test. The reach is wider than most. Counties, municipalities and school districts are named alongside state departments, so a school district hiring a bus driver or a city hiring in its street department is bound by it. The interview is the enforceable mechanism. Section 3-3-2 requires the officer, board or person who appoints to investigate the qualifications of a veteran applicant, and if the applicant possesses at least the minimum qualifications necessary to fill the position, to interview the applicant. That is a duty, not a practice. Section 3-3-1 also requires every employment application under the chapter to ask whether the applicant is a veteran as defined by 33A-2-1, so the employer cannot say it did not know. Two rules about who wins. Age, loss of limb, or other physical impairment which does not in fact incapacitate does not disqualify a veteran who possesses the qualifications and business capacity necessary for the position. And a veteran who has a service-connected disability is given preference over a nondisabled veteran; no percentage is specified, so any service connection does it. The remedy is mandamus. Section 3-3-3 gives an applicant or an incumbent an action in mandamus where the preference is refused, or where the salary for the position is reduced with intent to bring about the resignation or discharge of the incumbent. Section 3-3-5 makes noncompliance by a person in the public service a Class 1 misdemeanour. Two derivative preferences. Section 3-3-7 gives the unmarried spouse of a veteran who died in service or later died from a service-connected cause the same preference, if qualified. Section 3-3-8 gives the spouse of a veteran disabled from a service-connected cause the preference where the veteran is unable to exercise the right because of the disability, if qualified. What is carved out. Section 3-3-6 excludes department heads, policy-forming officials, the position of private secretary to any official or department, and any person holding a strictly confidential relation to the appointing officer. Since 2016, section 3-3-9 has required the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish informative materials on the preference laws on its website and to distribute them through the Veterans Council and its member organisations. This is public employment only. South Dakota has no statutory veterans preference binding a private employer, and none authorising a private employer to adopt one, which several states in this catalog do have.