{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-422.090","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 422.090","heading":"Discharge from military or naval service may be recorded -- Persons","body":"entitled to copies -- Copies as evidence -- Exemption from public disclosure\nexcept by certain persons or on order of court -- Request to destroy copies --\nReminder to ensure confidentiality.\n(1) All discharge papers, including Form DD -214, given, executed or delivered to any\nperson in the military or naval service of the United States, which evidence his\ndischarge from the service of the United States and show the unit or part of the\ndepartment to which he was attached and from which he was discharged may be\nrecorded in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the person\ndischarged is a resident. Upon the presentation of such discharge papers the county\nclerk shall record them, without charge therefor, in a suitable book which he shall\nprovide for that purpose.\n(2) A certified or attested copy of such recorded discharge is admissible evidence in all\nproceedings in which such discharge may come in question or in which it mig ht be\nused as legal evidence of any fact.\n(3) It shall be the duty of each county clerk to index alphabetically the name of each\nperson whose discharge papers are recorded as provided in this section and to keep\nsuch index as a permanent record in such off ice. This index shall be a public record\nwhich shall be disclosed to any member of the public. The index shall not be bound\nwith the book in which the discharge papers are recorded, but shall be a separate\nbound index.\n(4) Except as provided in subsections  (5) and (6) of this section, discharge papers\nrecorded with the county clerk shall not be public records subject to public\ndisclosure.\n(5) Upon presentation of proper identification, the following individuals may be\nprovided with a copy, a certified copy,  or an attested copy of discharge papers\nrecorded with the county clerk:\n(a) The veteran named in the discharge papers;\n(b) His or her spouse, widow or widower, child eighteen (18) years of age or\nolder, parent, grandparent, or sibling eighteen (18) years of age or older;\n(c) Any person authorized by the veteran;\n(d) A guardian, limited guardian, conservator, or limited conservator of a disabled\nor partially disabled veteran named in the discharge papers;\n(e) An individual with power of attorney for the veteran;\n(f) A funeral director handling funeral arrangements for the veteran; and\n(g) The personal representative of the veteran's estate.\n(6) (a) Discharge papers shall be subject to discovery under the federal and Kentucky\nrules of criminal and civil procedure.\n(b) The county clerk shall comply with any proper court order pertaining to\ndischarge papers.\n(7) Upon presentation of proper identification, a veteran may ask the county clerk to\ndestroy that veteran's discharge papers. Within fifteen (15) days of receiving the\nrequest, the county clerk shall destroy all copies of the discharge papers in whatever\nform they are being held.\n(8) With regard to military discharge papers, including Form DD -214, filed before July\n13, 2004, if a county clerk has commingled such discharge papers with documents\nunrelated to military discharge, that county clerk, in handling such discharge papers,\nmay comply with the provisions in subsections (4), (5), and (6) of this section as\nwell as the provision in subsection (3) of this section that the index shall not be\nbound with the book in which the discharge papers are recorded but sh all be a\nseparate bound index.\n(9) The Kentucky Department of Veterans' Affairs shall send a reminder of the\nprovisions of this section to all Kentucky county clerks in January of each year to\nensure the confidentiality of veterans' discharge papers.","path":["KRS Chapter 422"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=18112","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:39Z","sha256":"3abad68209fa4f8d2503893645bd2979bb492f1d3b605f9738fc983fdd3e6aa4","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-422.087","next":"us-ky/krs-422.100"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}