Taney County, Missouri - Military Discharge Papers

Senate Bill 325 (SB 325) and SB 61 were both signed and will be effective AUGUST 28, 2003. This is the legislation that deals with how we handle DD214's. RAM will be working on the request forms that are required under this legislation over the next several weeks so that all counties have them prior to the effective date. The provisions in this bill are effective beginning August 28, 2003:

1) No fee for filing
2) May refuse if not original, contain an original signature of officer, is not a certified copy or appears to have alterations or erasures.
3) Maintain public index containing only the name of the subject.
4) Maintain a separate index from the public that contains only the name of the subject and the location (book/page, etc) of the image (whether microfilm or optical).
5) Maintain the images of all military discharge documents separately from all other public images.
6) Any remote access system (internet, subscriber, etc) shall not make available the location of the image.
7) Images or copies shall only be made available to the authorized part submitting a notarized request form to the recorder of deeds. There shall be no charge for the certified or uncertified copy and no notary fee.
8) Prior to the effective date, August 28, 2003, the Recorders Association of Missouri (RAM) shall adopt a request form to be used by all counties and the city of St. Louis and any rules necessary to implement provision of this section.
9) A request form may only contain one request.
10) The recorder of deeds shall keep all request forms for at least five years and such forms shall only be made available to an authorized party.
11) Effective August 28, 2003, military discharge documents shall not be reproduced for any commercial or speculative purposes.
12) Any individual, agency, or court which obtains information shall not disseminate or disclose any information except as authorized by law.
13) The recorder of deeds shall not be liable for any damages that may result from good faith compliance with the provisions of this law.

These provisions are date forward. You do not have to go back and make changes. However the law does allow any recorder to apply these provisions to their old records if they have the time and resources.