38-201. General qualifications

A. Every officer shall be not less than eighteen years of age, a citizen of the United States and a resident of this state.

B. No person is eligible to any office, employment or service in any public institution in the state, or in any of the several counties thereof, of any kind or character, whether by election, appointment or contract, unless he is a citizen of the United States, but the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the employment of any teacher, instructor or professor authorized to teach in the United States under the teacher exchange program as provided by federal statutes or the employment of university or college faculty members.

C. A person who is unable to speak, write and read the English language is not eligible to hold a state, county, city, town or precinct office in the state, whether elective or appointive, and no certificate of election or commission shall issue to a person so disqualified.

D. Except as provided in subsection E, a person is not eligible for employment by or service for the state or a political subdivision of the state, including all boards and commissions of the state or political subdivision, all multimember governing bodies of departments, agencies, institutions and instrumentalities of the state or political subdivisions unless the person has registered with the selective service system if required by the federal military selective service act (62 Stat. 604; 50 United States Code App. section 453).

E. A person may not be denied a right, privilege or benefit by reason of subsection D if either of the following applies:

1. The requirement for the person to so register has terminated or become inapplicable to the person.

2. The person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the failure of the person to register with the selective service system was not a knowing and willful failure to register.