There are different types of state troops. Ordinarily they serve within the boundaries of their home state, and in some cases are limited to a specific part of the state. For example, in Alabama a law passed during the war limited county militia to service within county boundaries. A deserter attempting to escape from a group of militia needed only to cross a county line to be safe. Militia also served for a limited term, the longest being six months in Georgia.
After the war Confederate veterans could be provoked by any suggestion that "Home Guards", who usually slept in their own beds, ate home-cooked meals and never heard a shot fired in anger, were "Confederates" just like them. I side with the veterans on that one.