Need Clarity: Should I file my DD-214 with my local county courthouse?

Like you, I've heard conflicting stories as well. If you want it to become public record and possibly fall into identity fraud, then yes do it. If not, don't. What I did is put it in a safety deposit box at my local bank along with all my medical and military records records on an external hard drive. Hope this helps you out some.

I have my original DD214 on file at the courthouse (1995). That being said, it's a calculated risk in the new technological world we live in. My DD214s from both of my deployments exist in hard copy, iPerms & scanned into a digital file. For those that maintain a bank lockbox, store a hard copy and a digital copy there for safe keeping accessible to your next of kin.

SGT (Join to see) - as others have said, registering it with you local court house makes it easily accessible if you need a copy, but also makes it public record which *may* open you up to identity theft. Another solution (for an easily accessible copy) is to download your electronic record (your "iPerms"), encrypt it (e.g., using a PGP product like GnuPG or other encryption software), and make copies to store at home, work location, friends house, etc. This provides relatively easy access to a copy of your military record that is fairly secure and *not* public record.