§ 36-5-8. State employment tenure for disabled veterans. (a) Any person who is an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces of the United States of America and is also receiving a disability pension from the United States government for a service connected disability and has completed ten (10) years or more not necessarily consecutive, of service credit, those credits having been earned in either the classified, nonclassified or unclassified service of the state or a combination of both, shall be deemed to have acquired full status in the position he or she holds at the time of obtaining ten (10) years of service credit. For any other position he or she may hold subsequent to the obtaining ten (10) years of service credit, the person, subject to a then existing list, shall be deemed to have acquired full status in the subsequent position and shall be protected by the provisions of this chapter; provided, however:

(1) That military service not to exceed four (4) years of active service shall constitute service credit within the meaning of this section;

(2) That in case of layoff or the abolition of a position through reorganization or otherwise, any person in that position or subject to layoff, who has full status, otherwise qualified under this section, shall be retained within the state services in a position of similar grade;

(3) That this section shall not apply to employees of the state government whose method of appointment, salary, and term of office is specified by statute;

(4) That all employees otherwise qualified under this section shall be subject to all of the provisions of dismissal and appeal as elsewhere described in this chapter.

(b) "Veteran" is defined herein as any man or woman who has been engaged heretofore, is now or may hereafter be engaged in the active service of the armed forces of the United States with a minimum of ninety (90) days of active duty time served during any declared war, undeclared war, Korean campaign, conflict in Vietnam or any war, campaign, or conflict which the armed forces of the United States of America actively engages in.

(c) This section shall not apply to those employees whose base entry date is after August 7, 1996.

History of Section. (P.L. 1990, ch. 375, § 2; P.L. 1992, ch. 366, § 2; P.L. 1996, ch. 326, § 3.)