SB 715 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Requiring state agencies give first consideration to veterans and disabled law-enforcement officers when hiring

SB 715 requires West Virginia state agencies and appointing authorities to give first consideration to U.S. military veterans and retired or disabled law enforcement officers during the hiring process for state positions. The bill amends the state's civil service law (§29-6-7) to mandate that these candidates be prioritized in the initial review of job applicants. This policy change applies to all state agency hiring decisions, meaning these groups will be evaluated before others in the selection process. The bill does not guarantee employment but ensures these applicants receive preferential treatment during the early stages of hiring.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 2, 2026 Last action Mar 5, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original version to significantly expand its scope and add new requirements. The original bill focused only on disabled law enforcement officers, while the committee substitute now covers both veterans of the U.S. armed forces and retired or disabled law enforcement officers. The bill also changed from amending an existing section to adding a completely new section to the code.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded from only covering disabled law enforcement officers to include both U.S. armed forces veterans and retired or disabled law enforcement officers. The bill was also changed from amending an existing personnel section to creating a new dedicated section for this purpose.

SCOPE

Added veterans of the United States armed forces as a protected group eligible for first consideration in state employment alongside retired or disabled law enforcement officers.

Removed the original focus on only disabled law enforcement officers, expanding the protection to include veterans as well.

REQUIREMENT

Added documentation requirements for applicants to prove their veteran status or law enforcement retirement/disability status, with explicit exclusion of medical records.

Removed detailed provisions about the Director of Personnel's duties and replaced them with specific hiring preference requirements for the new protected groups.

DEFINITION

Added a definition of 'veteran' that references an existing code section (§6-13-1) for consistency with other state laws.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill from amending an existing section (§29-6-7) to adding a new section (§29-6-28) to the code.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

33–0

Passed

Total votes 33

Mar 3, 2026

D Democratic2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican31

31 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 296)

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors