BILL NUMBER: SB 247 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 914
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 2002
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2002
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 2, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 10, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 23, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 7, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Senator Speier
FEBRUARY 15, 2001
An act to amend Section 103525 of, and to add Sections 103525.5,
103526, 103526.5, 103527, and 103528 to, the Health and Safety Code,
relating to vital statistics.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 247, Speier. Birth and death certificates: certified copies:
access.
Existing law prescribes the information to be included on a
certificate of death, and on a certificate of live birth, including
specified medical and social information that is required to be kept
confidential as to a birth record. Existing law requires a State
Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder, upon request and
payment of the required fee, to supply to any applicant a certified
copy of the record of birth or death, except information in a birth
record that is designated confidential.
This bill would provide that the State Registrar, local registrar,
or county recorder may provide a certified copy of a birth or death
record to an authorized person, as defined, who submits a statement
sworn under penalty of perjury that the requester is an authorized
person. Because the bill would expand the scope of the crime of
perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. If a
requester does not meet the requirements of an authorized person,
this bill would require the State Registrar, local registrar, or
county recorder to issue the certified copy of a birth or death
record with a legend stating "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY." This bill would provide that these provisions
would become operative on July 1, 2003.
This bill would, commencing July 1, 2003, require that each
certified copy of a birth or death record contain specified
information and be printed on sensitized security paper with
specified features. This bill would also require the State
Registrar, local registrars, county recorders, and county clerks to
take precautions to ensure that the security paper is maintained
under secure conditions.
This bill would require an applicant for a certified copy of a
birth or death record to pay an additional fee of $2 to be used for
specified purposes, including developing safety and security measures
to protect against the fraudulent use of birth and death records.
This bill would provide that the fee would be reduced to $1 on
January 1, 2006.
This bill would require the State Registrar to appoint a vital
records protection advisory committee to, among other things, study
and make recommendations to protect individual privacy, inhibit
identity theft, and prevent fraud involving birth and death
certificates while still preserving access to those seeking it for
legitimate purposes. The bill would require the State Registrar to
appoint specified individuals to the committee for a term of 3 years,
except as provided, on a staggered basis.
This bill would authorize the department to create an automated
system to accomplish these provisions.
By imposing new duties on local officials, this bill would create
a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 103525 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
103525. (a) The State Registrar, local registrar, or county
recorder shall, upon request and payment of the required fee, supply
to any applicant a certified copy of the record of any birth, fetal
death, death, marriage, or marriage dissolution registered with the
official.
When the original forms of certificates of live birth furnished by
the State Registrar contain a printed section at the bottom
containing medical and social data or labeled "Confidential
Information for Public Health Use Only," that section shall not be
reproduced in a certified copy of the record except as specifically
authorized in Section 102430.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or any other provision of law,
commencing July 1, 2003, the State Registrar, local registrar, or
county recorder shall provide certified copies of birth and death
records only as authorized under Section 103526 or 103526.5.
SEC. 2. Section 103525.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
103525.5. (a) Until January 1, 2006, in addition to the fees
prescribed by Sections 103625 and 103626, an applicant for a
certified copy of a birth or death record shall pay an additional fee
of two dollars ($2). Commencing January 1, 2006, this fee shall be
reduced to one dollar ($1).
(b) Until January 1, 2006, each local registrar or county recorder
collecting the fee pursuant to this section shall transmit one
dollar and sixty-five cents ($1.65) of the fee to the State Registrar
by the 10th day of the month following the month in which the fee
was received. Commencing January 1, 2006, each local registrar or
county recorder collecting the fee pursuant to this section shall
transmit sixty-five cents ($.65) of the fee to the State Registrar by
the 10th day of the month in which the fee was received. These
funds, and fees collected by the State Registrar pursuant to this
section, shall be used by the State Registrar, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, to develop safety and security measures to protect
against fraudulent use of birth and death records, including, but not
limited to, computerizing records, redacting and removing signatures
as required by law, and electronically distributing redacted records
to local registrars and county recorders for their use in complying
with Sections 103526 and 103526.5.
(c) Thirty-five cents ($0.35) of the fee specified in subdivision
(a) shall be retained by the public official charged with the
collection of the fee to defray the costs of the additional security
features required by Sections 103526 and 103526.5.
(d) The entire amount of the fee collected pursuant to subdivision
(a) by the State Registrar shall be retained and used by the State
Registrar, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose
specified in subdivision (b). The entire amount of the fee collected
by the local registrar or county recorder pursuant to subdivision
(c) shall be retained and used by that official for the purpose
specified in subdivision (c).
SEC. 3. Section 103526 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
103526. (a) If the State Registrar, local registrar, or county
recorder receives a written request for a certified copy of a birth
or death record pursuant to Section 103525 that is accompanied by a
notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the requester
is an authorized person, as defined in this section, that official
may furnish a certified copy to the applicant in accordance with
Section 103525. If a request for a certified copy of a birth or
death record is made in person, the official shall take a statement
sworn under penalty of perjury that the requester is signing his or
her own legal name and is an authorized person, and that official may
then furnish a certified copy to the applicant.
(b) In all other circumstances, the certified copy provided to the
applicant shall be an informational certified copy and shall display
a legend that states "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY." The legend shall be placed on the certificate in
a manner that will not conceal information.
(c) For purposes of this section, an "authorized person" is any of
the following:
(1) The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the
registrant.
(2) A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court
order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the birth
record in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3140 or
7603 of the Family Code.
(3) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of
another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting
official business.
(4) A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic
partner of the registrant.
(5) An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant's
estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by
a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant's
estate.
(6) Any funeral director who orders certified copies of a death
certificate on behalf of any individual specified in paragraphs (1)
to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100.
(d) Any person who asks the funeral director to request a death
certificate on his or her behalf warrants the truthfulness of his or
her relationship to the decedent, and is personally liable for all
damages occasioned by, or resulting from, a breach of that warranty.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funeral directors
who order death certificates on behalf of individuals specified in
paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100
shall not be required to provide the notarized statement required by
subdivision (a).
(f) Informational certified copies of birth and death certificates
issued pursuant to subdivision (b) shall only be printed from the
single statewide database prepared by the State Registrar and shall
be electronically redacted to remove any signatures for purposes of
compliance with this section. Local registrars and county recorders
shall not issue informational certified copies of birth and death
certificates from any source other than the statewide database
prepared by the State Registrar. This subdivision shall become
operative on January 1, 2006.
(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2003.
SEC. 4. Section 103526.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
103526.5. (a) Each certified copy of a birth or death record
issued pursuant to Section 103525 shall include the date issued, the
name of the issuing officer, the signature of the issuing officer,
whether that is the State Registrar, local registrar, county
recorder, or county clerk, or an authorized facsimile thereof, and
the seal of the issuing office.
(b) (1) All certified copies of birth and death records issued
pursuant to Section 103525 shall be printed on chemically sensitized
security paper that measures 81/2 by 11 inches and that has the
following features:
(A) Intaglio print.
(B) Latent image.
(C) Fluorescent, consecutive numbering with matching bar code.
(D) Microprint line.
(E) Prismatic printing.
(F) Watermark.
(G) Void pantograph.
(H) Fluorescent security threads.
(I) Fluorescent fibers.
(J) Any other security features deemed necessary by the State
Registrar.
(2) In addition to the security features required by paragraph
(1), commencing January 1, 2006, the security paper used for
informational certified copies of birth and death records pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 103526 shall also contain a statement in
perforated type that states "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY."
(c) The State Registrar, local registrars, county recorders, and
county clerks shall take precautions to ensure that uniform and
consistent standards are used statewide to safeguard the security
paper described in subdivision (b), including, but not limited to,
the following measures:
(1) Security paper shall be maintained under secure conditions so
as not to be accessible to the public.
(2) A log shall be kept of all visitors allowed in the area where
security paper is stored.
(3) All spoilage shall be accounted for and subsequently destroyed
by shredding on the premises.
(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2003.
SEC. 5. Section 103527 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
103527. (a) The State Registrar shall appoint a Vital Records
Protection Advisory Committee to study and make recommendations to
protect individual privacy, inhibit identity theft, and prevent fraud
involving birth and death certificates while providing needed access
to birth and death record information to those seeking it for
legitimate purposes. The committee shall have the following duties:
(1) Review and make recommendations as to the adequacy of
procedures to safeguard individual privacy and prevent fraud, while
ensuring appropriate access to birth and death records.
(2) Make recommendations to the State Registrar as to items that
should be redacted from informational certified copies of birth and
death certificates issued pursuant to Section 103526.
(3) Make recommendations to the State Registrar regarding fraud
prevention measures concerning vital records.
(b) The committee shall include representatives from private and
governmental entities that use vital records as identity or legal
documents, consumers, law enforcement officials, genealogists, and
organizations that research vital records for legal or social
purposes. The State Registrar shall make every effort to ensure that
committee membership also represents the community at large.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), membership on the
committee shall be for a term of three years.
(2) Appointments shall be made on a staggered basis to allow for a
change of one-third of the membership on an annual basis. One-third
of the initial committee membership shall be appointed to one-year
terms, and one-third of the initial committee membership shall be
appointed to two-year terms.
SEC. 6. Section 103528 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
103528. The department may create an automated system for the
purposes of implementing Sections 103525, 103525.5, 103526, and
103526.5.
SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because in that regard this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies
and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.