Central Purchasing Division, Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services
Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Act (DVBE Act). Central Purchasing administers the statewide procurement process and incorporates the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Act certification into its standard bid forms. Supplier registration questions go to 405-521-2930. There is no separate veteran business certification office, because Oklahoma does not issue its own certificate. Central Purchasing Division, Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services →
3-point bonus preference
Every state and local awarding entity must give service-disabled veteran businesses a three-percentage-point bonus preference in awarding contracts for any job or service.
3 percent award goal
The OMES Director carries a goal of awarding 3 percent of covered contracts to service-disabled veteran businesses.
No state certificate
Eligibility rests on federal certification of service-disabled status, claimed with the bid on the state’s own form — there is nothing to apply for and nothing to renew.
Certification
Oklahoma does not run its own program
There is no Oklahoma service-disabled veteran business certification. The statute defines a service-disabled veteran as an individual disabled as certified by the appropriate federal agency responsible for the administration of veterans’ affairs, so the federal VA rating is the evidence. The state’s standard bid forms simply ask the bidder to assert and document the status.
- The required attachments are proof of service-disabled veteran status as verified by the appropriate federal agency, verification of not less than 51 percent ownership by one or more service-disabled veterans, and verification of control of management and daily business operations by one or more service-disabled veterans.
- Because there is no certificate, there is no cost, no expiration date, and no renewal.
Source: OMES CP Form 087, Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Act section
Where the claim is made
Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Act certifications are collected on the responding bidder information form that accompanies competitive solicitations, and on the unsolicited offer form for non-competitive acquisitions. The Oklahoma Purchasing Manual lists these certifications among the statutory requirements built into the standard forms.
- Form CP076 is the responding bidder information form used during solicitations.
- Form CP087 is the unsolicited offer form used after an exemption from competitive bidding is approved.
The preference
Three percentage points, statewide
In awarding contracts for the performance of any job or service, all agencies, departments, institutions, and other entities of the state and of each political subdivision of the state must give a three-percentage-point bonus preference to service-disabled veteran businesses doing business as Oklahoma firms, corporations, or individuals, or which maintain Oklahoma offices or places of business.
- The reach is broad — it binds cities, counties, and school districts as well as state agencies.
- The preference is a bonus applied in the award evaluation, not a set-aside, so a service-disabled veteran business still has to be competitive.
Source: 74 O.S. § 85.44E(B)
The 3 percent goal, with an escape hatch
The Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services carries a goal that 3 percent of covered contracts be awarded to service-disabled veteran businesses. The statute suspends that goal for any procurement where an insufficient number of qualifying veteran businesses submit a bid or proposal.
- The OMES Director may promulgate rules to implement the section.
- The provision was added by Laws 2015, chapter 179, and amended by Laws 2020, chapter 98.
Source: 74 O.S. § 85.44E(C)
Eligibility
What the statute requires
A service-disabled veteran business is one in which not less than 51 percent is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans, or in the case of a publicly owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans, and in which the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans. A service-disabled veteran is an individual disabled as certified by the federal agency responsible for veterans’ affairs.
- There is no minimum disability percentage in the statute — any federally certified service-connected disability satisfies the definition.
- There is no business size limit.
- The Oklahoma nexus is satisfied either by doing business as an Oklahoma firm, corporation, or individual, or by maintaining an Oklahoma office or place of business, so an out-of-state firm with an Oklahoma office can qualify.
Source: 74 O.S. § 85.44E(A)
How to apply
Register, then claim it on each bid
Register as a supplier through the Oklahoma supplier portal so you can receive and respond to solicitations, then check the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Act box on the bidder form for each solicitation and attach the three required proofs. There is no application fee and no certification period, because the claim is made per procurement.
- Supplier registration assistance is available at 405-521-2930 or OKSuppliers@omes.ok.gov.
- Central Purchasing posts open solicitations and awarded contracts through its solicitations and awards pages.
Source: OMES Central Purchasing
Finding opportunities
Open solicitations and a separate ODVA channel
Most work is advertised through Central Purchasing’s open solicitations listing. Separately, the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs is exempt from the ordinary competitive bidding requirements when it spends funds with an honorably discharged veteran or a veteran-owned business, which makes ODVA a direct-award channel worth approaching.
- The ODVA exemption is recorded in the Oklahoma Purchasing Manual’s list of statutory exemptions from competitive bidding.
- To be considered as an ODVA veteran vendor, the veteran or veteran-owned business must be registered in the federal System for Award Management, or meet alternative requirements set by ODVA.
What gets reported wrongly about Oklahoma
- The citation 74 O.S. § 63.22 circulates widely for Oklahoma’s veteran preference. It is wrong. The veteran vendor preference was editorially renumbered to 72 O.S. § 63.22, it applies only to the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, and it is a permissive preference for any honorably discharged veteran or 51 percent veteran-owned business — not the statewide 3-point preference. The statewide preference is 74 O.S. § 85.44E.
- Oklahoma is sometimes listed as having a veteran business certification program. It does not. Vendor lists and directories of certified Oklahoma service-disabled veteran businesses do not exist at the state level, which means the only way buyers find you is supplier registration and your own outreach.
- The 3 percentage points are a bonus preference in the award evaluation, not a 3 percent discount you must beat and not a set-aside. The separate 3 percent figure in subsection (C) is an aspirational award goal for the OMES Director, and it switches off entirely when too few qualifying firms bid.
- The preference covers service-disabled veterans only. A veteran-owned business with no service-connected disability gets nothing under 74 O.S. § 85.44E.
Every figure on this page links to the source it came from. Verified October 24, 2026. Procurement rules change — check the source before you rely on a number.
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