BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2215 (Maienschein) - Veterans: recorded documents.
Amended: June 24, 2014 Policy Vote: Judiciary 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill may meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense
File.
Bill Summary: AB 2215 would authorize a family member or legal
representative of a veteran to request recordation in any county
of military discharge documents, provided the person seeking
recordation signs the required acknowledgment form stating the
recorded document will be open to public inspection.
Fiscal Impact: Ongoing local costs to county recorders to record
veterans' discharge documents. As county recorders are
prohibited from charging a fee for recording military records,
any potential reimbursable mandate due to the additional work
for county clerks is estimated to be minor but could potentially
exceed $50,000 (General Fund) in any one year.
Background: Existing law permits military veterans to record
military discharge documents, including a veteran's service form
DD214, in any county in this state and requires the veteran to
sign a form acknowledging that the recorded document is open to
inspection by any person.
A DD214 is the federal form which is the official separation
document given to all veterans, which includes specified
personal information. Historically, the Veterans Administration
and numerous military affiliated groups have encouraged
separating and retiring military personnel to file their DD214's
with their county recorder's office so that they would have
access to a legitimate copy in case they lose the original.
Existing law does not expressly permit family members to record
these documents on behalf of a veteran when the veteran is
unable to request recordation of a document himself or herself.
County recorders have encountered situations in which a veteran
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was incapacitated or deceased and a family member has requesting
recordation in order to obtain benefits or preserve the
historical significance of the veteran's service. Under existing
law, county recorders do not have the authority to grant such a
request for recordation.
Proposed Law: This bill would allow a family member or legal
representative of a veteran to request recordation of a military
discharge document, including a veteran's service form DD 214,
provided that the county recorder requires the person requesting
the recordation to sign a form stating acknowledgement that the
document and all the information referenced within it becomes
part of the official record of the county and that this
information is open to inspection by any person.
Prior Legislation: SB 544 (Chesbro) Chapter 301/2003 requires,
if any military veteran requests the recordation of any military
discharge document, including a veteran's service ford DD 214,
that the county recorder shall require the veteran to sign a
form acknowledging that the document shall become part of the
official record of the county and subject to inspection, as
provided.
Staff Comments: As county recorders are prohibited from charging
a fee for recording discharge documents of any member of the
armed forces under Government Code � 6107(a)(1), this bill
imposes a reimbursable state mandate on county recorders to
process additional requests for recordation of military
discharge documents from family members and legal
representatives. This bill does not impose a new program on
county recorders, however, to the extent the number of requests
for recordation increases due to the provisions of this bill
could result in an increase in workload for county recorder
offices. As the number of additional requests to be processed is
unknown, costs could potentially exceed $50,000 (General Fund)
in any one year.
Staff notes that the provisions of existing law enacted under SB
544 (Chesbro) Chapter 301/2003 that require county recorders to
record discharge documents for veterans has not resulted in a
claim for reimbursement submitted to the Commission on State
Mandates to date.
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