New York City County Clerks: Free Recording of Discharge Papers

In New York City the five County Clerks are officers of the State courts, not of the City, but Military Law 250 applies to them by name: each must record a veteran's discharge free and hand out certified copies free. See the New York entry on discharge recording. Where to go. Bronx: Bronx County Clerk, 851 Grand Concourse, Room 118. The Clerk returns the original at once, keeps the record sealed from the public, and gives certified copies at no charge whenever asked. Brooklyn: Kings County Clerk, 360 Adams Street. Manhattan: New York County Clerk, Business Department, 60 Centre Street, Room 109B (646-386-5939), which records military discharges. Queens: Queens County Clerk, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Room 106, Jamaica (718-298-0608). No fee to file or for certified copies. Staten Island: Richmond County Clerk, 130 Stuyvesant Place, 2nd floor. The six-month rule. The Bronx Clerk's page says a veteran may record a DD-214 there "if they have lived in Bronx County for at least 6 months", and the Queens page describes filing in a county lived in for six months. Military Law 250 has no residence test; it says the certificate "may be recorded in any one county". The six months come from the peddler licence law, General Business Law 32. A veteran who has just moved to the City can ask to record anyway and point to section 250. Bring the original discharge, a certified copy, or the replacement the service issued for a lost one.