Smith County Clerk: Recording of Military Discharges

The Smith County Clerk, Karen Phillips, records the county's military discharges. "Military Discharge records, or DD-214s, are recorded in the County Clerk's office at no charge to the Veteran." A veteran or qualified applicant completes the Clerk's Application for Certified Copy - Military Discharge, includes a copy of a state-issued ID, and brings or sends it to the Clerk's office at 200 E. Ferguson, Suite 300, Tyler, Texas 75702; 903-590-4670. Why it matters. The page explains that the DD-214's "Report of Separation contains information normally needed to verify military service for benefits, retirement, employment, and membership in veterans' organizations," including the dates and places of entry and release, the last duty assignment and rank, decorations, and the character of discharge. Confidentiality and copies. The page restates Government Code 552.140 at length: a discharge is confidential for the 75 years following recording, and on request and proper identification, the veteran, the veteran's legal guardian, the spouse, a child or parent (or, absent those, the nearest living relative), the estate's personal representative, a person named in a power of attorney under Estates Code chapter 752, another governmental body, or an authorized funeral home representative may inspect the record or get a free certified copy; see the Texas entry. The application form. The Clerk's two-page form asks for the veteran's name, discharge date, sex, date of birth, Social Security number and branch of service, and the applicant's name, address, phone, email, relationship to the veteran and purpose for the request, with a copy of the applicant's ID. "Applications submitted by mail must have the attached notarized proof of identification. Applications submitted in office are not required to have the notarization," and the notarized affidavit warns that a false statement on it is a felony under Health and Safety Code chapter 195. The fee schedule. The Clerk's Vital Statistics fee schedule, effective January 1, 2024, lists "Military Discharge - DD214's - Certified Copies and Filing" at "NO CHARGE," alongside the Clerk's birth, death and marriage fees. Unlike Jefferson's and Cameron's fee sheets, Smith County's Official Public Records fee schedule, effective September 1, 2025, which prices the assumed name certificate under Business & Commerce Code 71.155(a)(1) and (2), carries no line for the clerk's-choice military-veteran assumed-name fee waiver the Texas entry describes. Whether Smith County has adopted that waiver and simply left it off the published sheet, or has not adopted it at all, is not published; a veteran filing an assumed name certificate here should ask the Clerk directly rather than rely on the schedule. A veteran without an original can request a certified copy from the National Personnel Records Center at archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records, by mail or fax on the SF-180, or by calling 314-801-0800.