Trumbull County Recorder: Free Discharge Recording and Veteran ID Cards

Recording. The Trumbull County Recorder, Dawn Zinni-Hanni, 160 High Street NW, Warren (330-675-2401), takes an original or VA-certified discharge for recording at no cost, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and returns the original with a certified copy (Revised Code 317.24; see the Ohio entry on county recorders). Under Senate Bill 248 of 2009, recorded discharges are not public record for 75 years: the veteran, a county veterans service officer, an attorney in fact, the veteran's agent or representative, a court-authorized person, an executor, administrator or heir, or the funeral director performing the funeral may receive an unredacted copy, one certified copy free to an authorized party; anyone else may see a copy redacted to name, rank, dates and type of discharge. Additional certified copies cost $2 a page plus $1 a certification. The ID card. The Recorder takes the veteran's picture and prints the card while the veteran waits, on two forms of current identification, at least one with a photograph, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. But its page says it is "only allowed to issue ID Cards for Veterans with Honorable Discharges", where section 317.241 refuses the card only for a dishonorable discharge, so a veteran with a general or other-than-honorable discharge is eligible under the statute and should cite it. The commission's own annual brief calls the Recorder's card unofficial and points to the federal VA and military ID cards as the credential of record.