Montgomery County Recorder: Free DD-214 Recording and Veteran ID Card

Recording. The Montgomery County Recorder, 451 West Third Street, fifth floor, Dayton (937-225-4275, [email protected]), records a DD-214 free of charge, gives a certified copy at recording, keeps the original overnight and mails it back the next business day, and keeps the discharge off the public record. That carries out Revised Code 317.24 and 317.27; see the Ohio entry on county recorders. A veteran without a DD-214 should ask the Veterans Service Commission (937-225-4801) to request one. The ID card. A veteran who records the DD-214 at the Recorder's office gets an Ohio veterans identification card, free, valid ten years, and replaced when it expires, the address changes or it wears out. County residence is not required. The Recorder also issues cards at mobile events; those listed for the rest of 2026 are October 9 at AMVETS Post 24, October 23 at VFW Post 7741, November 23 at the Trotwood library and December 5 with Friends of Perry Township. A list of businesses giving veteran discounts comes with each card. The Veterans Service Commission requires the card for its dental programme. Where the county's own documents disagree. The FAQ says "any veteran that was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable" can have a card, which is the statute's test in 317.241. The printed pamphlet says the DD-214 must identify an "honorable" discharge; a veteran with a general or other than honorable discharge should cite the FAQ and the statute. The pamphlet also asks for two forms of identification besides the DD-214, where the statute counts the DD-214 itself as one of the two and the Recorder's events page asks for one more. What the card is not. The Recorder calls it a "valid form of state-issued identification". Section 317.241 makes it proof of veteran status, not a state ID: it is not an Ohio driver's licence or state ID card, and it is not among the photo identification Ohio accepts at the polls under 3501.01(AA), which takes a VA or military ID card but not a county card. The pamphlet itself adds that the card does not by itself qualify anyone for VA benefits.