Suffolk County Clerk: Free Recording of Discharge Papers

Military Law 250 has every county clerk record a veteran's discharge free and give free certified copies; see the New York entry on discharge recording. In Suffolk. The County Clerk's page says to file the original separation or discharge papers and that within two weeks you will receive two certified copies and an identification card by mail, at no fee. The Clerk's printed guidance, dated 2017, sends veterans to the Court Actions Department, 310 Center Drive, Riverhead, with the original DD-214, and says a discharge already filed in another New York county cannot be filed again. Who can see it. Since 2005 a recorded discharge is closed to the public; only the veteran, a parent, spouse, dependent or child, the representative of a deceased veteran's estate, a public official at work, or someone the veteran authorises in writing may see or copy it, each with the identification the Clerk lists. Under Civil Rights Law 79-g a veteran may ask in writing that the Clerk seal it further, so that only the veteran, the veteran's authorised agent or the estate's representative can get it. One limit to question. The Clerk's 2017 guidance says one certified copy is free. Military Law 250 has the Clerk give a certified copy without charge to the veteran or family whenever asked, with no limit.