The Department of Defense encourages all military personnel to record their discharge papers (DD 214) for safekeeping with the county clerk in the county of residence. There is no fee for recording your discharge in Taylor County, this service is free. The original will be returned to you after it is recorded.

Recording the military discharge provides a permanent record for future proof of service for veterans' benefits and other uses. If you move at some point after recording your DD214 here, you should also have it recorded in the County Clerk’s office in your new “home” county.
All DD214’s recorded on or after September 1, 2003 are closed and not accessible to the public. In order to have access or receive copies of a DD-214 recorded on or after September 1, 2003 you must be:

• The veteran who is the subject of the record
• The legal guardian of the veteran *
• The spouse or a child or parent of the veteran, or if there is no living spouse, child or parent- the nearest living relative of the veteran *
• The personal representative of the estate of the veteran *
• The person named by the veteran in an appropriate power of attorney *
• Another governmental body, such as a veteran’s Service Officer or Law Enforcement

* Proof of legal authorization and personal identification is required.

Certified copies are provided to the Veteran or family members at no cost, although we ask that you limit your request to three per visit, however we will always work with you to get you what you need. If you can’t make it to our office, you may mail the DD214 Application Form with the attached identity affidavit.

NOTE: The DD214’s recorded in this office before September 1, 2003 are open to the public. If the DD214 was recorded prior to September 1, 2003 you may request for it to be deleted and then re-recorded, which will make the record closed to the public. Please read the letter found here, if you are ready to have your record deleted and refiled please complete the request form here.

Thank you for your service to our Country we owe you our gratitude and our freedom.