Kentucky County Clerks: Free, Confidential Discharge Recording

KRS 422.090 is the whole rule, and it has not changed since 2010 (2010 Ky. Acts ch. 20, HB 106); the legislature's page for the section, read on 2026-10-23, carries no later amendment. Recording. Discharge papers, "including Form DD-214", "may be recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the person discharged is a resident. Upon the presentation of such discharge papers the county clerk shall record them, without charge therefor" (subsection 1). A certified or attested copy of the recorded discharge is evidence in any proceeding (subsection 2). Privacy. The clerk keeps a separate alphabetical index of names, which is public (subsection 3), but the recorded papers "shall not be public records subject to public disclosure" (subsection 4). With proper identification, a copy, certified copy or attested copy goes only to the veteran; a spouse, widow or widower, adult child, parent, grandparent or adult sibling; anyone the veteran authorizes; a guardian or conservator of a disabled veteran; an attorney in fact; a funeral director handling the funeral; or the personal representative of the estate (subsection 5). Courts can still reach the papers by discovery or order (subsection 6). Papers filed before July 13, 2004 may sit mixed with other records, and the clerk then applies the same rules as best it can (subsection 8). Taking it back. "Upon presentation of proper identification, a veteran may ask the county clerk to destroy that veteran's discharge papers. Within fifteen (15) days of receiving the request, the county clerk shall destroy all copies" (subsection 7). The Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs must remind every clerk of these rules each January (subsection 9). What the statute does not say. It sets no fee for copies, so a clerk may charge its ordinary copy fee unless it waives it, as Fayette's clerk does. It reaches only a resident of the county, so record in the county of residence.