Oakland County Clerk: DD-214 Recording, Copies and Veterans ID Card

Recording. The Oakland County Clerk's Vital Records office, 1200 North Telegraph Road, Pontiac (248-858-0571), records an original DD-214 and hands it straight back; recorded discharges are confidential (see the Michigan entry on discharge records). Copies. The veteran shows a driver's licence or state ID, in person or by mail on the Clerk's form. The first certified copy is free and each additional copy costs $1.00. MCL 35.32(2)(c) lets a clerk charge the public for discharges 70 or more years old but says the veteran, a person with the veteran's permission, the heirs and a service officer helping with a claim "shall not be charged" for that veteran's records, so the $1 is not owed by them. The Clerk lets a spouse or immediate family member get a copy only with a certified death certificate and proof of relationship; the statute also lets anyone with the veteran's permission see the record while the veteran is alive. Veterans ID card. Free, in person, with the original DD-214 showing an honorable discharge "or equivalent status" (unless already on file) and a driver's licence or state ID with an Oakland County address. Merchants who give discounts on it do so voluntarily. Licence to sell goods. The Clerk's Legal Division issues the free one-year veteran's licence to sell one's own goods (1921 PA 359) to an Oakland County resident with an honorable discharge, on a Michigan licence or ID and the DD-214 or veterans ID card. The act also requires 180 days of active service or a service-connected disability.