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Ionia County Clerk's Office to offer veteran ID cards

Sentinel-Standard - 4/23/2019

April 20-- Apr. 20--IONIA COUNTY -- The Ionia County Clerk's office is implementing a new service to benefit the veterans. Starting next week, the office will have the ability to issue veteran identification cards at no cost.

"I think this will be a very positive thing for the community and the veterans in the community," Ionia County Clerk Janae Cooper said. "I have had constituents ask about adding this service.

"It's been sporadic over the years, but I have probably had half a dozen just this year inquire about them."

The purpose of the veteran identification card, Cooper said, is to assist veterans in verifying their service to the country and to help ensure they receive other benefits such as discounts at various businesses.

Cooper said she had everything in the office already to offer the service. The office already has a printer for concealed pistol licenses, a camera to take photos for the cards, and the computer program necessary to make the cards.

Since no new equipment was needed, the price to produce a card is minimal, and the office doesn't need to charge the veterans.

"It's an extremely minimal expense, I think it's about 16 cents per card," Cooper said. "All of the big dollar stuff was already in the office. We're offering it free of charge. To me, that's just a thank you to our veterans."

To acquire a veteran identification card, a veteran will have to either provide his or her military discharge papers (DD214) or already have those on file with the county. Additionally, they must provide a photo identification, as DD214 records are only available to the veteran, so identification must be confirmed.

The veteran must have received an honorable discharge to qualify for the identification card.

The office will offer specialized cards for each branch of the armed forces, Cooper said. The process to make a card will be a relatively quick one.

"It should only take about five to 10 minutes to process," Cooper said. "There's nothing that has to be mailed. They'll walk in without it, and walk out with it."

To obtain a veteran identification card, veterans can visit between 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday at the Ionia County Clerk's Office, inside the courthouse, at 100 W. Main Street in Ionia.

-- Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @IoniaSS_Mitch.

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