(A) The board of county commissioners may by resolution allow the county recorder or county veterans service office to issue Ohio veterans identification cards to individuals who have met the following requirements:

(1) Presented the individual's armed forces discharge record for recording in the record of discharges in the office of the county recorder;

(2) Provided, while appearing in person at a county recorder's office or county veterans service office, two forms of current and valid identification, at least one of which bears a photograph of the individual;

(3) Paid a fee, if a fee has been established by the county.

A board of county commissioners may, by resolution, authorize a county recorder or county veterans service office to collect a fee from individuals requesting a veterans identification card. The fee may not exceed two dollars.

If a county veterans service office maintains access to the state and federal military service verification system, the county veterans service office or county recorder, by consulting the county veterans service office, shall confirm before issuing a veterans identification card that the individual's armed forces discharge record exists in the system's database and does not indicate the individual was dishonorably discharged.

(B) A county recorder or county veterans service office who has in operation, before the effective date of this section, a program to issue veterans identification cards may continue to issue veterans identification cards without a resolution of the board of county commissioners, if the county recorder or county veterans service office conforms the program, as necessary, so that it otherwise is in compliance with this section.

(C) An Ohio veterans identification card expires ten years after the date of issuance. A veteran whose identification card has expired may apply to a county recorder or county veterans service office for the issuance of a new identification card, and a veteran whose current card has been lost or damaged may apply to a county recorder or county veterans service office for a replacement identification card, by meeting the requirements described in this section.

(D) The following documents are valid forms of identification for the purposes of this section:

(1) An original or a certified birth certificate;

(2) An identification card issued by the United States department of veterans affairs;

(3) A United States military identification card;

(4) A social security card;

(5) A license or permit to carry a concealed weapon issued by this state or any other state;

(6) A motor vehicle operator's license issued by this state or any other state that bears a photograph of the licensee;

(7) An identification card issued by this state or any other state that bears a photograph of the individual identified;

(8) A valid passport that bears a photograph of the individual to whom the passport was issued;

(9) A United States armed forces discharge record.

(E) Fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the county treasury to the credit of the county general fund.

(F)

(1) An Ohio veterans identification card shall conform to the material and design standards established by the Ohio recorders association in consultation with the county commissioners' association of Ohio and Ohio state association of county veterans service officers. All issuing entities shall follow the design standards established pursuant to Sec. 317.242.

(2) An applicant for an Ohio veterans identification card shall be photographed in color at the time the application for the card is made. A county recorder or county veterans service office that issues identification cards shall provide the necessary equipment to take a color photograph of an applicant for an Ohio veterans identification card. Photographic records of a county recorder's office or county veterans service office that are obtained under this section are the property of the county recorder's office or county veterans service office.

(G) All application materials, including applications, photographs, documents, or other information submitted with an application or obtained by a county recorder or county veterans service office are not public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code. The county recorder or county veterans service office may only release application materials as follows:

(1) To a state, local, or federal governmental agency for criminal justice purposes or to a court for any purpose arising in the court;

(2) To the department of veterans services, but only if the veteran gives prior signed written approval;

(3) To a county veterans service commission, but only if the veteran gives prior signed written approval.

A governmental agency, a court, the department of veterans services, or a county veterans service commission to which application materials have been released shall maintain the confidentiality of those materials.

(H) A county recorder or county veterans service office may contract with any other political subdivision of the state for Ohio veterans identification card production services.

(I) A county recorder or county veterans service office may accept donations, in the form of supplies and equipment, to be used in the production of Ohio veterans identification cards.

Added by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 173, §1, eff. 9/8/2016.