BILL ANALYSIS
AB 130
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 130 (Jeffries)
As Amended June 30, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |79-0 |(June 1, 2009) |SENATE: |32-2 |(August 31, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Seeks to control the release of, and access to, marriage
records. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the State Registrar to keep nonconfidential marriage
record indices confidential and exempt from the Public Records
Act, except as specified. Provides that nonconfidential marriage
record indices shall be comprised of the name of each party to the
marriage and the date of the marriage.
2)Provides that nonconfidential marriage data files released to the
public shall contain the name of each party to the marriage and
date of the marriage, and shall not contain the maiden names of
the parties' mothers. Provides that marriage data files for the
purposes of law enforcement or preventing fraud shall include the
mothers' maiden names.
3)Provides that the State Registrar, local registrar or county
recorder may provide a certified copy of a nonconfidential
marriage record or a confidential marriage record to an authorized
person, as defined, who submits a statement sworn under penalty of
perjury that the requester is an authorized person. Provides
that, in all other cases in which the requester does not meet the
requirements of an authorized person, a certified copy of a
nonconfidential marriage record may be provided to the requester
but the document shall be an informational certified copy and
shall be redacted, as specified. Requires the certified copy to
contain the statement "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY."
4)Requires that certified copies of marriage records contain
specified information and be printed on sensitized security paper
with specified features, including, among other things, a
watermark, fluorescent security threads, and fluorescent fibers
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and requires that the State Registrar, local registrars, county
recorders, and county clerks take precautions to safeguard the
security paper.
5)Requires an applicant for a certified copy of a marriage record to
pay an additional $1 fee, $.65 of which, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, is to be used by the State Registrar to develop
safety and security measures to protect against fraudulent use of
marriage, birth and death records, and $.35 of which is to be used
by the public official charged with the collection of the fee to
defray additional security costs, as specified.
6)Requires the Vital Records Protection Advisory Committee, which is
studying and making recommendations to protect individual privacy,
inhibit identity theft, and prevent fraud involving birth and
death certificates while still providing needed access to those
records to those seeking them for legitimate purposes, to include
marriage records in its study.
The Senate amendments apply to confidential as well as
nonconfidential marriage records, as provided, and add legislative
intent regarding the need for privacy of marriage records.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the State Registrar to prepare and maintain comprehensive
and continuous indices of all certificates registered. Provides
that birth and death record indices be kept confidential and
exempt from the Public Records Act, except as specified.
2)Limits who may have access to birth and death data files and what
may be in those files, including requiring that specified personal
identifiers, such as mother's maiden name and social security
number, be deleted from files released to the public.
3)Provides 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. Provides that, in all other cases in which the requester
does not meet the requirements of an authorized person, a
certified copy may be provided to the requester but the document
shall be an informational certified copy and shall be redacted to
remove any signatures that appear on the document. Requires the
certified copy to contain the statement "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A
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VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY."
4)Requires that certified copies of birth and death records must
contain specified information and be printed on sensitized
security paper with specified features, including, among other
things, a watermark, fluorescent security threads, and fluorescent
fibers and requires that the State Registrar, local registrars,
county recorders, and county clerks take precautions to safeguard
the security paper.
5)Requires an applicant for a certified copy of a birth or death
record to pay an additional $1 fee, $.65 of which is, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to be used by the State
Registrar to develop safety and security measures to protect
against fraudulent use of birth and death records, and $.35 of
which is to be used by the public official collecting the fee to
defray additional security costs, as specified.
6)Requires the State Registrar to 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 still providing
needed access to birth and death record information to those
seeking it for legitimate purposes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar to
the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations analysis,
this bill:
1) Extends the existing limitations on the release and access of
birth certificates and death records to apply to marriage records.
Official marriage records would be required to be printed on
specified security-enhanced paper, handled with specified
precautions, released with specified statements (as applicable), and
to be released only to certain individuals; these regulations are
consistent with the requirements of birth and death certificates.
2) Provides for a $1 fee to be assessed on certified copies of
marriage records, $0.65 of which would go to the State Registrar and
$0.35 to the county administering agency. This same fee level and
division is currently assessed on birth and death certificates, and
the County Recorders Association has indicated that it sufficiently
covers the cost of implementing virtually identical privacy
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provisions for birth and death certificates. The county recorders
believe this fee is sufficient to cover the cost of implementing the
provisions of this bill.
3) Requires that nonconfidential marriage record indices and data
files released to the public contain only the names of each party to
the marriage and the marriage date, and specifically exclude the
mother's maiden name. The County Recorders Association has
indicated that marriage data files and indices released to the
public already do not contain the mothers' maiden names.
4) States that VRPAC was established by AB 247 (Speier), Chapter
914, Statutes of 2002, and is charged with studying and making
recommendations to protect individual privacy, inhibit identity
theft, and prevent fraud involving birth and death certificates.
Adds marriage records to the scope of its study and privacy
recommendations. $0.65 of each $1 of the new fee will go to VRPAC
(managed by the State Registrar).
COMMENTS : In order to prevent fraud and identity theft, AB 247, and
AB 1614 (Speier), Chapter 712, Statutes of 2002, established
controls for the release of, and access to, birth and death records.
This bill, sponsored by County Recorders Association of California,
seeks to apply those same controls to marriage records.
This bill adds marriage records to the access restrictions that
already apply to birth and death records. As a result, this bill
will protect access to these records in several ways. First, the
bill limits access to indices of marriage records that the State
Registrar is required to maintain, just as access to the indices of
birth and death records are currently limited. Second, this bill
directs the State Registrar's Vital Records Protection Advisory
Committee, which is studying and making recommendations to protect
individual privacy, inhibit identity theft, and prevent fraud
involving birth and death certificates while still providing needed
access to those records to those seeking them for legitimate
purposes, to include marriage records in its study.
Finally, and most importantly, only authorized individuals,
including the people getting married, their immediate family, and
law enforcement, may have access to certified copies of marriage
records. All other individuals may be provided with an
informational certified copy, redacted to remove any signatures that
appear on the document, and containing the following statement:
"INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY." The
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bill also requires that certified copies of marriage records must
contain the same special security features that certified copies of
birth and death records now contain in order to prevent their
alternation and misuse.
By restricting access to certified copies of marriage records, this
bill requires an applicant for a certified copy of a marriage record
to pay an additional $1 fee, $.65 of which is to be used by the
State Registrar to develop safety and security measures to protect
against fraudulent use of these records, and $.35 of which is to be
used by the public official collecting the fee to help pay for the
additional security costs. This is the same additional fee that
applicants for certified copies of birth and death records must pay
to defray the costs of the additional security measures for those
documents.
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0002232