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H0084.........................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
MILITARY VETERANS - DISCHARGE PAPERS - Amends existing law to authorize any
veteran to record his or her discharge papers; to authorize a veteran to
remove certain forms from the official records; to provide that certain forms
recorded at the request of any veteran shall be a public record subject to
release without the written consent of the veteran; to provide for no cause of
action against a county, county employee or the state of Idaho based upon harm
caused by information released from the records of the county; and to provide
that certain military records shall be exempt from disclosure under the Public
Records Act.
01/16 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/17 Rpt prt - to St Aff
01/27 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
01/28 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
01/30 3rd rdg - PASSED - 69-0-1
AYES -- Andersen, Barraclough, Barrett, Bauer, Bedke, Bell, Bieter,
Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Bradford, Campbell, Cannon, Clark, Crow, Cuddy,
Deal, Denney, Douglas, Eberle, Edmunson, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18),
Field(23), Gagner, Garrett, Harwood, Henbest, Jaquet, Jones, Kellogg,
Kulczyk, Lake, Langford, Langhorst, Martinez, McGeachin, McKague, Meyer,
Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Nacarrato, Nielsen, Raybould, Ridinger, Ring,
Ringo, Roberts, Robison, Rydalch, Sali, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd,
Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie, Snodgrass, Stevenson,
Tilman, Trail, Wills, Wood, Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Collins
Floor Sponsor - Clark
Title apvd - to Senate
01/31 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
02/06 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/07 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/11 3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
AYES -- Andreason, Bailey, Brandt, Bunderson, Burkett, Burtenshaw,
Calabretta, Cameron, Compton, Darrington, Davis, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde,
Hill, Ingram, Kennedy, Keough, Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley,
McKenzie, McWilliams, Noble, Noh, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder,
Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor - Richardson
Title apvd - to House
02/12 To enrol
02/13 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
02/14 Pres signed
02/17 To Governor
02/20 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 26
Effective: 07/01/03
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session - 2003
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 84
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO MILITARY VETERANS; AMENDING SECTION 65-301, IDAHO CODE, TO AUTHO-
3 RIZE ANY VETERAN TO RECORD HIS OR HER DISCHARGE PAPERS AND TO PROVIDE THAT
4 THE NAME OF THE VETERAN MAY NOT BE REDACTED FROM THE DOCUMENT, TO AUTHO-
5 RIZE A VETERAN OR SURVIVING SPOUSE OF A VETERAN OR OTHER LEGAL REPRESENTA-
6 TIVE TO REQUEST THAT A COUNTY RECORDER REMOVE FROM THE OFFICIAL RECORDS
7 CERTAIN FORMS AND TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES FOR SUCH REQUEST, TO PROVIDE THAT
8 CERTAIN FORMS WHICH ARE RECORDED AT THE REQUEST OF ANY VETERAN, HIS OR HER
9 SURVIVING SPOUSE OR OTHER LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE SHALL NOT BE A PUBLIC
10 RECORD SUBJECT TO RELEASE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE VETERAN, SURVIV-
11 ING SPOUSE OR OTHER LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE AND TO PROVIDE FOR NO CAUSE OF
12 ACTION AGAINST A COUNTY, COUNTY EMPLOYEE OR THE STATE OF IDAHO BASED UPON
13 HARM CAUSED BY INFORMATION RELEASED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE COUNTY; AND
14 AMENDING SECTION 9-340C, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN MILITARY
15 RECORDS SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
17 SECTION 1. That Section 65-301, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
18 amended to read as follows:
19 65-301. PERFORMANCE WITHOUT FEE -- SERVICES ENUMERATED. (1) Any state,
20 county, city or public officer, or board, or body, acting in his or her or its
21 official capacity on behalf of the state, county, or city, including notaries
22 public, shall not collect, demand or receive any fee or compensation for
23 recording or indexing the discharge papers of any male or female veteran who
24 had active service in any war or conflict officially engaged in by the govern-
25 ment of the United States; or for issuing certified copies thereof, or for any
26 service whatever rendered by any such officer or officers, in the matter of a
27 pension claim, application, affidavit, voucher, or in the matter of any claim
28 to be presented to the United States department of veterans affairs or for the
29 purposes of securing any benefits under acts of congress providing pension
30 benefits for honorably discharged veterans of any war, and all acts or parts
31 of acts amendatory thereto, or for furnishing a certified copy of the public
32 record of a marriage, death, birth, divorce, deed of trust, mortgage, or prop-
33 erty assessment, or making a reasonable search for the same, wherein the same
34 is to be used in a claim for pension, or a claim for allotment, allowance,
35 compensation, insurance, automatic insurance, or otherwise provided for by any
36 and all legislation by congress providing pension benefits for honorably dis-
37 charged veterans of any war.
38 (2) Any veteran wishing to record his or her discharge papers may do so
39 with personal identifying information such as date of birth, social security
40 number, home address(es), blood type and other personal identifying informa-
41 tion redacted from the document. The name of the veteran may not be redacted
42 from the document.
43 (3) Any veteran or surviving spouse of any veteran of the United States
2
1 armed forces or his or her surviving spouse, attorney, personal representa-
2 tive, executor or court appointed guardian has the right to request that a
3 county recorder remove from the official records any of the following forms
4 recorded before, on or after July 1, 2003, by or on behalf of the requesting
5 veteran: DD-214; DD-215; WD AGO 53; WD AGO 55; WD AGO 53-55; NAVMC 78-PD; and
6 NAVPERS 553. The request must specify the identification page number of the
7 form to be removed. The request shall be made in person and with appropriate
8 identification to allow determination of identity. The county recorder has no
9 duty to inquire beyond the requestor to verify the identity of the person
10 requesting removal. No fee shall be charged for the removal. Any paper and
11 reasonably retrievable electronic likeness, the removal of which will not
12 affect other recorded documents, shall be removed from the record.
13 (4) No DD-214, DD-215, WD AGO 53, WD AGO 55, WD AGO 53-55, NAVMC 78-PD,
14 and NAVPERS 553, which is recorded at the request of any veteran of the United
15 States armed forces or his or her surviving spouse, attorney, personal repre-
16 sentative, executor or court appointed guardian shall be a public record sub-
17 ject to release by the provisions of sections 9-337 through 9-350, Idaho Code,
18 without the express written consent of one (1) of the above enumerated indi-
19 viduals.
20 (5) Nothing in this section shall create or permit any cause of action
21 against a county, county employee or the state of Idaho based upon harm caused
22 by information released from the records of the county.
23 SECTION 2. That Section 9-340C, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
24 amended to read as follows:
25 9-340C. RECORDS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE -- PERSONNEL RECORDS, PERSONAL
26 INFORMATION, HEALTH RECORDS, PROFESSIONAL DISCIPLINE. The following records
27 are exempt from disclosure:
28 (1) Except as provided in this subsection, all personnel records of a
29 current or former public official other than the public official's public ser-
30 vice or employment history, classification, pay grade and step, longevity,
31 gross salary and salary history, status, workplace and employing agency. All
32 other personnel information relating to a public employee or applicant includ-
33 ing, but not limited to, information regarding sex, race, marital status,
34 birth date, home address and telephone number, applications, testing and
35 scoring materials, grievances, correspondence and performance evaluations,
36 shall not be disclosed to the public without the employee's or applicant's
37 written consent. A public official or authorized representative may inspect
38 and copy his personnel records, except for material used to screen and test
39 for employment.
40 (2) Retired employees' and retired public officials' home addresses, home
41 telephone numbers and other financial and nonfinancial membership records;
42 active and inactive member financial and membership records and mortgage port-
43 folio loan documents maintained by the public employee retirement system.
44 Financial statements prepared by retirement system staff, funding agents and
45 custodians concerning the investment of assets of the public employee retire-
46 ment system of Idaho are not considered confidential under this chapter.
47 (3) Information and records submitted to the Idaho state lottery for the
48 performance of background investigations of employees, lottery retailers and
49 major procurement contractors; audit records of lottery retailers, vendors and
50 major procurement contractors submitted to or performed by the Idaho state
51 lottery; validation and security tests of the state lottery for lottery games;
52 business records and information submitted pursuant to sections 67-7412(8) and
53 (9) and 67-7421(8) and (9), Idaho Code, and such documents and information
3
1 obtained and held for the purposes of lottery security and investigative
2 action as determined by lottery rules unless the public interest in disclosure
3 substantially outweighs the private need for protection from public disclo-
4 sure.
5 (4) Records of a personal nature as follows:
6 (a) Records of personal debt filed with a public agency or independent
7 public body corporate and politic pursuant to law;
8 (b) Personal bank records compiled by a public depositor for the purpose
9 of public funds transactions conducted pursuant to law;
10 (c) Records of ownership of financial obligations and instruments of a
11 public agency or independent public body corporate and politic, such as
12 bonds, compiled by the public agency or independent public body corporate
13 and politic pursuant to law;
14 (d) Records, with regard to the ownership of, or security interests in,
15 registered public obligations;
16 (e) Vital statistics records; and
17 (f) Military records as described in and pursuant to section 65-301,
18 Idaho Code.
19 (5) Information in an income or other tax return measured by items of
20 income or sales, which is gathered by a public agency for the purpose of
21 administering the tax, except such information to the extent disclosed in a
22 written decision of the tax commission pursuant to a taxpayer protest of a
23 deficiency determination by the tax commission, under the provisions of sec-
24 tion 63-3045B, Idaho Code.
25 (6) Records of a personal nature related directly or indirectly to the
26 application for and provision of statutory services rendered to persons apply-
27 ing for public care for the elderly, indigent, or mentally or physically hand-
28 icapped, or participation in an environmental or a public health study, pro-
29 vided the provisions of this subsection making records exempt from disclosure
30 shall not apply to the extent that such records or information contained in
31 those records are necessary for a background check on an individual that is
32 required by federal law regulating the sale of firearms, guns or ammunition.
33 (7) Employment security information and unemployment insurance benefit
34 information, except that all interested parties may agree to waive the exemp-
35 tion.
36 (8) Any personal records, other than names, business addresses and busi-
37 ness phone numbers, such as parentage, race, religion, sex, height, weight,
38 tax identification and social security numbers, financial worth or medical
39 condition submitted to any public agency or independent public body corporate
40 and politic pursuant to a statutory requirement for licensing, certification,
41 permit or bonding.
42 (9) Unless otherwise provided by agency rule, information obtained as
43 part of an inquiry into a person's fitness to be granted or retain a license,
44 certificate, permit, privilege, commission or position, private association
45 peer review committee records authorized in title 54, Idaho Code. Any agency
46 which has records exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this subsec-
47 tion shall annually make available a statistical summary of the number and
48 types of matters considered and their disposition.
49 (10) The records, findings, determinations and decisions of any prelitiga-
50 tion screening panel formed under chapters 10 and 23, title 6, Idaho Code.
51 (11) Complaints received by the board of medicine and investigations and
52 informal proceedings, including informal proceedings of any committee of the
53 board of medicine, pursuant to chapter 18, title 54, Idaho Code, and rules
54 adopted thereunder.
55 (12) Records of the department of health and welfare or a public health
4
1 district that identify a person infected with a reportable disease.
2 (13) Records of hospital care, medical records, including prescriptions,
3 drug orders, records or any other prescription information that specifically
4 identifies an individual patient, prescription records maintained by the board
5 of pharmacy under section 37-2730A, Idaho Code, records of psychiatric care
6 or treatment and professional counseling records relating to an individual's
7 condition, diagnosis, care or treatment, provided the provisions of this sub-
8 section making records exempt from disclosure shall not apply to the extent
9 that such records or information contained in those records are necessary for
10 a background check on an individual that is required by federal law regulating
11 the sale of firearms, guns or ammunition.
12 (14) Information collected pursuant to the directory of new hires act,
13 chapter 16, title 72, Idaho Code.
14 (15) Personal information contained in motor vehicle and driver records
15 that is exempt from disclosure under the provisions of chapter 2, title 49,
16 Idaho Code.
17 (16) Records of the financial status of prisoners pursuant to subsection
18 (2) of section 20-607, Idaho Code.
19 (17) Records of the Idaho state police or department of correction
20 received or maintained pursuant to section 19-5514, Idaho Code, relating to
21 DNA databases and databanks.
22 (18) Records of the department of health and welfare relating to a survey,
23 resurvey or complaint investigation of a licensed nursing facility shall be
24 exempt from disclosure. Such records shall, however, be subject to disclosure
25 as public records as soon as the facility in question has received the report,
26 and no later than the fourteenth day following the date that department of
27 health and welfare representatives officially exit the facility pursuant to
28 federal regulations. Provided however, that for purposes of confidentiality,
29 no record shall be released under this section which specifically identifies
30 any nursing facility resident.
31 (19) Records and information contained in the registry of immunizations
32 against childhood diseases maintained in the department of health and welfare,
33 including information disseminated to others from the registry by the depart-
34 ment of health and welfare.
35 (20) Records of the Idaho housing and finance association (IHFA) relating
36 to the following:
37 (a) Records containing personal financial, family, health or similar per-
38 sonal information submitted to or otherwise obtained by the IHFA;
39 (b) Records submitted to or otherwise obtained by the IHFA with regard to
40 obtaining and servicing mortgage loans and all records relating to the
41 review, approval or rejection by the IHFA of said loans;
42 (c) Mortgage portfolio loan documents;
43 (d) Records of a current or former employee other than the employee's
44 duration of employment with the association, position held and location of
45 employment. This exemption from disclosure does not include the contracts
46 of employment or any remuneration, including reimbursement of expenses, of
47 the executive director, executive officers or commissioners of the associ-
48 ation. All other personnel information relating to an association employee
49 or applicant including, but not limited to, information regarding sex,
50 race, marital status, birth date, home address and telephone number,
51 applications, testing and scoring materials, grievances, correspondence,
52 retirement plan information and performance evaluations, shall not be dis-
53 closed to the public without the employee's or applicant's written con-
54 sent. An employee or authorized representative may inspect and copy that
55 employee's personnel records, except for material used to screen and test
5
1 for employment or material not subject to disclosure elsewhere in the
2 Idaho public records act.
3 (21) Records of the department of health and welfare related to child sup-
4 port services in cases in which there is reasonable evidence of domestic vio-
5 lence, as defined in chapter 63, title 39, Idaho Code, that can be used to
6 locate any individuals in the child support case except in response to a court
7 order.
8 (22) Records of the Idaho state bar lawyer's assistance program pursuant
9 to chapter 49, title 54, Idaho Code, unless a participant in the program
10 authorizes the release pursuant to subsection (4) of section 54-48901, Idaho
11 Code.
12 (223) Records and information contained in the trauma registry created by
13 chapter 20, title 57, Idaho Code, together with any reports, analyses and com-
14 pilations created from such information and records.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 12526
Until very recently, veterans, upon separation from the service,
were directed to record their discharge papers (DD-214s) with the
county recorder. Unfortunately, discharge papers contain a great
deal of highly personal information. Making this information
part of the public record makes it easier for criminals to use it
to commit identity theft. This bill enables veterans to protect
their identities while preserving their official military
records.
This proposal amends Idaho Code 65-301, to authorize any veteran
to record his or her discharge papers either in their entirety or
with personal identifying information redacted. It also allows
the veteran to request that the county recorder remove from the
official records certain military records that are reasonably
retrievable.
FISCAL IMPACT
No change.
Contact
Name: Bill von Tagen
Phone: 334-4140
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H84