Aransas County Clerk: DD-214 Filing and Certified Copies Free

The notice. The Clerk's "Attention Veterans" notice: "Filing your DD-214 is FREE! As a veteran, you are entitled to file and receive free certified copies of your DD-214 at no charge to you. If you are contacted by a private company who offers to file your military discharge paperwork for you, know that if you have your DD-214, we will record your document for safekeeping at no charge to you, or your family." That is Local Government Code 192.002 and Government Code 603.003 (see the Texas entry). Copies by mail. The Clerk's mail request form says discharge records filed after September 1, 2003 are confidential for 75 years and that the veteran, the veteran's legal guardian, the personal representative of the estate, a person named in the veteran's power of attorney, another governmental body or a funeral home's representative assisting with the burial may inspect one or have a certified copy at no charge; the requester signs an affidavit before a notary and shows identification. Government Code 552.140 also names the veteran's spouse, child or parent (or, if none is living, the nearest living relative), whom the form omits; a family member turned away should cite the section. Reaching the office. The Clerk's pages are behind the county's bot check, so these come from Internet Archive copies; the courthouse is at 308 North Live Oak Street, Rockport, and the county's main number is 361-790-0100.