Amended in Assembly April 10, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2275

Introduced by Assembly Member Ridley-Thomas

February 21, 2014

An act to amend Section 103526 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital records.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2275, as amended, Ridley-Thomas. 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 begin delete additionally authorize the request and the notarized statement to be a submitted in electronic form, as specified end delete begin insert , if the request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record is made electronically, authorize the official to accept electronic acknowledgment, sworn under penalty of perjury, that the requester is an authorized person. The bill would require a method for the clerk to establish the identity of the requester electronically and would require a system used to process the electronic request and to establish the requester’s identity to protect the personal information of the requester and to protect against identity theft end insert .

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 103526 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

103526.  

(a) (1) If the State Registrar, local registrar, or county
recorder receives a written, faxed, begin insert or end insert digitized begin delete image, or the
electronic form of a request end delete begin insert image end insert for a certified copy of a birth,
death, or marriage record pursuant to Section 103525 that is
accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under penalty of
begin delete perjury, end delete begin insert perjury or end insert a faxed copy or digitized image of a notarized
statement sworn under penalty of begin delete perjury, or an electronic
acknowledgment sworn under penalty of end delete perjury that the requester
is an authorized person, as defined in this section, that official may
furnish a certified copy to the applicant pursuant to Section 103525.

(2) A faxed or digitized image of the notary acknowledgment
accompanying a faxed request received pursuant to this subdivision
for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record shall be
legible and, if the notary’s seal is not photographically
reproducible, show the name of the notary, the county of the
notary’s principal place of business, the notary’s telephone number,
the notary’s registration number, and the notary’s commission
expiration date typed or printed in a manner that is photographically
reproducible below, or immediately adjacent to, the notary’s
signature in the acknowledgment. If a request for a certified copy
of a birth, death, or marriage 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.

(3) If a request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage
record is made electronically, the official may accept an electronic
acknowledgment begin delete accompanying the electronic request end delete begin insert , sworn
under penalty of perjury, that the requester is an authorized person
pursuant to this section end insert . The begin delete electronic end delete request begin delete and
acknowledgment end delete shall begin insert also end insert provide a method begin delete to securely end delete begin insert for the
official to end insert establish the begin delete applicant end delete identity begin insert of the requester end insert
electronically, begin delete as an authorized person, end delete pursuant to this section.
begin delete The official may then furnish a certified copy to the applicant. end delete begin insert A
system or product used to process the electronic request and
establish the requester’s identity shall comply with the provisions
of the California Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and all
other applicable state and federal laws and regulations to protect
the personal information of the requester and guard against
identity theft. If a requester’s identity cannot be established
electronically pursuant to this paragraph, the requester may
accompany his or her request with a notarized statement of identity
pursuant to paragraph (1). end insert

(4) For purposes of this subdivision, “digitized image” means
an image of an original paper request for a certified copy of a birth,
death, or marriage record.

begin insert

(5) Willfully obtaining or assisting another person in obtaining
a vital record when he or she is not authorized to receive that
record is a crime pursuant to Section 530.5 of the Penal Code.

end insert

(b) (1) If the person requesting a certified copy of a birth, death,
or nonconfidential marriage record is not an authorized person or
is an authorized person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the
requirements of subdivision (a), 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.

(2) If the person requesting a certified copy of a confidential
marriage record is not an authorized person or is an authorized
person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the requirements of
subdivision (a), the official shall not release a certified copy of the
confidential marriage record unless otherwise authorized by law.

(c) For purposes of this section, an “authorized person” means:

(1) For purposes of requests for certified copies of confidential
marriage records, only a party to the confidential marriage.

(2) For purposes of requests for certified copies of birth, death,
or nonconfidential marriage records, a person who is any of the
following:

(A) The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the registrant.

(B) 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.

(C) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative
of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is
conducting official business.

(D) A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or
domestic partner of the registrant.

(E) 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.

(F) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
within the course and scope of his or her employment and who
orders certified copies of a death certificate on behalf of an
individual specified in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of
subdivision (a) of Section 7100.

(d) A person who asks the agent or employee of a funeral
establishment 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 law:

(1) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative
of a state or local government agency, as provided by law, who
orders a copy of a record to which subdivision (a) applies in
conducting official business shall not be required to provide the
notarized statement required by subdivision (a).

(2) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
within the course and scope of his or her employment and who
orders 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 a source other than the statewide database
prepared by the State Registrar. This subdivision shall become
operative on July 1, 2007, but only after the statewide database
becomes operational and the full calendar year of the birth and
death indices and images is entered into the statewide database
and is available for the respective year of the birth or death
certificate for which an informational copy is requested. The State
Registrar shall provide written notification to local registrars and
county recorders as soon as a year becomes available for issuance
from the statewide database.