{"data":{"id":"us-mt/39-30-201","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"39-30-201","heading":"Employment preference in initial hiring.","body":"(1) Except as provided in 10-2-402 and subsection (3) of this section, in an initial hiring for a position, if a job applicant who is a person with a disability or eligible spouse meets the eligibility requirements contained in 39-30-202 and claims a preference as required by 39-30-206, a public employer shall hire the applicant over any other applicant with substantially equal qualifications who is not a preference-eligible applicant.\n(2) The employment preference provided for in subsection (1) does not apply to a personnel action described in 39-30-103(2)(b) or to any other personnel action that is not an initial hiring.\n(3) To minimize confusion between 39-29-102 and this section, if a public employer in an initial hiring for a position uses a scoring procedure, the employer shall follow the guidelines in 39-29-102 if an applicant requests a veterans' or disabled veterans' preference. If a scoring procedure is not used, the employer shall provide preference first to a disabled veteran, then to a person with a disability, a veteran, an eligible relative as defined in 39-29-101, and an eligible spouse as defined in 39-30-103, in that order, over any applicant that does not have preference eligibility and that has substantially equal qualifications.","path":["TITLE 39. LABOR","CHAPTER 30. PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE","Part 2. Operative Provisions"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0390/chapter_0300/part_0020/section_0010/0390-0300-0020-0010.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:54:31Z","sha256":"bfb9f4e5e2424f55d94fc2247ae6b9ee58298e07e631045576f8142267235abf","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/39-30-108","next":"us-mt/39-30-202"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}