AB 2636, as amended, Linder. Certified copies of marriage, birth, and death certificates: electronic application.
Under existing law, a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage, or military service record may only be supplied by the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to an authorized person, as defined, who submits a written, faxed, or digitized image request accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the applicant is an authorized person.
This bill would, if the request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record is made electronically, authorize the official to accept electronic acknowledgment verifying the identity of the requester using a remote identity proofing process aligned with federal guidelines for security and privacy, and satisfying other specified requirements, ensuring that the requester is an authorized person. The bill would require the verification to comply with specified provisions and protect the personal information of the requester and guard against identity theft.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 103526 of the Health and Safety Code
2 is amended to read:
(a) (1) If the State Registrar, local registrar, or county
4recorder receives a written, faxed,begin insert electronic,end insert or digitized image
5of a request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record
6pursuant to Section 103525 that is accompanied by a notarized
7statement sworn under penalty of perjury, or a faxed copy or
8digitized image of a notarized statement sworn under penalty of
9perjury, that the requester is an authorized person, as defined in
10this section, that official may furnish a certified copy to the
11applicant pursuant to Section 103525.
12(2) A faxed or digitized
image of the notary acknowledgment
13accompanying a faxed request received pursuant to this subdivision
14for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record shall be
15legible and, if the notary’s seal is not photographically
16reproducible, show the name of the notary, the county of the
17notary’s principal place of business, the notary’s telephone number,
18the notary’s registration number, and the notary’s commission
19expiration date typed or printed in a manner that is photographically
20reproducible below, or immediately adjacent to, the notary’s
21signature in the acknowledgment. If a request for a certified copy
22of a birth, death, or marriage record is made in person, the official
23shall take a statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the
24requester is signing his or her own legal name and is an authorized
25person, and that official may then furnish a certified copy to the
26applicant.
27(3) If a request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage
28record is made electronically, the official may accept an electronic
29acknowledgment verifying the identity of the requester using a
30remote identity proofing process ensuring that the requester is an
31authorized person. The identity proofing process shall be aligned
32with the federal guidelines for security and privacy and shall
33include dynamic knowledge-based authentication or an identity
P3 1proofing method consistent with the electronic authentication
2guidelines of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
3The verification shall comply with the Uniform Electronic
4Transactions Act and all other applicable state and federal laws
5and regulations to protect the personal information of the requester
6and guard against identity theft. If a requester’s identity cannot be
7
established electronically pursuant to this paragraph, the requester
8may accompany his or her request with a notarized statement of
9identity pursuant to paragraph (1).
10(4) For purposes of this subdivision, “digitized image” means
11an image of an original paper request for a certified copy of a birth,
12death, or marriage record.
13(b) (1) If the person requesting a certified copy of a birth, death,
14or nonconfidential marriage record is not an authorized person or
15is an authorized person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the
16requirements of subdivision (a), the certified copy provided to the
17applicant shall be an informational certified copy and shall display
18a legend that states “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID
19DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY.” The
legend shall
20be placed on the certificate in a manner that will not conceal
21information.
22(2) If the person requesting a certified copy of a confidential
23marriage record is not an authorized person or is an authorized
24person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the requirements of
25subdivision (a), the official shall not release a certified copy of the
26confidential marriage record unless otherwise authorized by law.
27(c) For purposes of this section, an “authorized person” means:
28(1) For purposes of requests for certified copies of confidential
29marriage records, only a party to the confidential marriage.
30(2) For purposes of requests for certified copies of birth, death,
31or
nonconfidential marriage records, a person who is any of the
32following:
33(A) The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the registrant.
34(B) A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court
35order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the
36birth record in order to comply with the requirements of Section
373140 or 7603 of the Family Code.
38(C) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative
39of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is
40conducting official business.
P4 1(D) A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or
2domestic partner of the registrant.
3(E) An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant’s
4estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed
5by a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant’s estate.
6(F) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
7within the course and scope of his or her employment and who
8orders certified copies of a death certificate on behalf of an
9individual specified in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of
10subdivision (a) of Section 7100.
11(d) A person who asks the agent or employee of a funeral
12establishment to request a death certificate on his or her behalf
13warrants the truthfulness of his or her relationship to the decedent
14and is personally liable for all damages occasioned by, or resulting
15from, a breach of that warranty.
16(e) Notwithstanding any other law:
17(1) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative
18of a state or local government agency, as provided by law, who
19orders a copy of a record to which subdivision (a) applies in
20conducting official business shall not be required to provide the
21notarized statement required by subdivision (a).
22(2) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
23within the course and scope of his or her employment and who
24orders death certificates on behalf of individuals specified in
25paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100
26shall not be required to provide the notarized statement required
27by subdivision (a).
28(f) Informational certified copies of birth and death certificates
29issued pursuant to subdivision (b) shall only be printed from the
30single statewide database prepared by the State Registrar and shall
31be electronically redacted to remove any signatures for purposes
32of compliance with this section. Local registrars and county
33recorders shall not issue informational certified copies of birth and
34death certificates from a source other than the statewide database
35prepared by the State Registrar. This subdivision shall become
36operative on July 1, 2007, but only after the statewide database
37becomes operational and the full calendar year of the birth and
38death indices and images is entered into the statewide database
39and is available for the respective year of the birth or death
40certificate for which an informational copy is requested. The State
P5 1Registrar shall provide written notification to local
registrars and
2county recorders as soon as a year becomes available for issuance
3from the statewide database.
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