§ 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.