New York Consolidated Laws, Military Law - MIL § 250. Recording certificates of honorable discharge

Any certificate issued after April sixth, nineteen hundred seventeen, of the honorable separation from or service in the armed forces of the United States of any veteran, may be recorded in any one county, in the office of the county clerk, and when so recorded shall constitute notice to all public officials of the facts set forth therein.  It shall be the duty of the county clerk to record the certificate upon presentation thereof without the payment of any fee.  For any purpose for which the original certificate may be required in the state of New York, a certified copy of the record shall be deemed sufficient and shall be accepted in lieu thereof.  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of law, it shall be the duty of the county clerk of each county, to furnish without charge to any veteran, or parent, spouse, dependent or child of the veteran, a certified copy of the certificate of the veteran so recorded in the office of the county clerk.  No filed certificate or any information contained therein, shall be disclosed to any person except the veteran or parent, spouse, dependent or child of the veteran, representative of the estate of the deceased veteran or a public official, acting within the scope of his or her employment, unless such disclosure is authorized in writing by the veteran.  The provisions of this section also apply to the counties within the city of New York.