Chapter 14. Certified Copy And Verification Of Records of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 102. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 14.

(a) The State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder shall, upon request and payment of the required fee, supply to an applicant a certified copy of the record of a 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 law, the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder shall provide certified copies of birth, death, and marriage records only as authorized under Section 103526 or 103526.5.

(a) (1) 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).
  (2) Commencing January 1, 2010, in addition to the fees prescribed by Sections 103625 and 103626, an applicant for a certified copy of a marriage record shall pay an additional fee of 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, death, and marriage 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).

(a) (1) If the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder receives a written, faxed, or digitized image of a request 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 perjury, or a faxed copy or digitized image of 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 pursuant to Section 103525. 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.
  (2) 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.
  (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 any 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.

(a) Each certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage 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) All certified copies of birth, death, and marriage records issued pursuant to Section 103525 shall be printed on chemically sensitized security paper that measures 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches and that has the following features:
  (1) Intaglio print.
  (2) Latent image.
  (3) Fluorescent, consecutive numbering with matching barcode.
  (4) Microprint line.
  (5) Prismatic printing.
  (6) Watermark.
  (7) Void pantograph.
  (8) Fluorescent security threads.
  (9) Fluorescent fibers.
  (10) Any other security features deemed necessary by the State Registrar.
  (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.

(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, death, and marriage certificates while providing needed access to birth, death, and marriage 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, death, and marriage records.
  (2) Make recommendations to the State Registrar as to items that should be redacted from informational certified copies of birth, death, and nonconfidential marriage 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.

The department may create an automated system for the purposes of implementing Sections 103525, 103525.5, 103526, and 103526.5.

Certified copies of certificates of births shall be issued only when the applicant for the certified copy is able to furnish information, exclusive of file numbers, adequate for identification and location of the amended record.

Upon application of a parent, the local registrar or county recorder shall request a copy of a new birth certificate amended under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 102625) from the State Registrar. When a request of this type is received, the State Registrar shall send a copy of the new certificate to the local registrar or county recorder who shall then issue certified copies from the document. The copy of the new certificate returned to the local registrar or county recorder under this procedure shall be filed in the same manner as the copies of other certificates representing births that occurred during the same time period.

Prior to issuing a certified copy of a birth record, the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder shall determine whether their respective birth records or index to the records have been revised pursuant to Section 102245 to indicate the death of the registrant whose birth record is requested. If the records or index have been so revised, the certified copy provided the applicant shall display the legend "DECEASED," which shall be indelibly printed or stamped, in boldface style not less than one-half inch in height, within near proximity to the space reserved for the registrant's name. The State Registrar shall adopt regulations to implement this section.

Certified copies of birth, fetal death, death, and marriage records may be made only by the State Registrar, by duly appointed and acting local registrars during their term of office, and by county recorders.

Any birth, fetal death, death, or marriage record that was registered within a period of one year from the date of the event under the provisions of this part, or any copy of the record or part thereof, properly certified by the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder, is prima facie evidence in all courts and places of the facts stated therein.

A short form of certification of birth registration that shall contain only identification information may be issued by the State Registrar, by the county recorder, or by any local registrar.

A short form of certification of death registration, including only identification information and excluding the medical statement of the cause of death, may be issued by the State Registrar, county recorder, or any local registrar, upon forms prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar.

The Office of the State Registrar, upon request, may furnish the United States Public Health Service with vital statistics relating to births, deaths, marriages, and marriage dissolutions for utilization in the national vital statistics program. Such vital statistics may be furnished on a contract reimbursement or other satisfactory basis that will insure that the reimbursement shall not be less than the cost to the state nor exceed the federal government' s fair share of the cost of the statewide vital statistics registration and reporting system.

A certification limited to a statement as to the date of birth of any child needed for admission to school or for the purpose of securing employment shall be issued without fee by the local registrar or county recorder upon request of any parents or guardian.

The state or local registrar or county recorder may, without fee verify a date and place of birth, when the applicant can present sufficient information to identify the birth record.

(a) On or after July 1, 2015, each local registrar or county recorder shall, without an issuance fee or any other associated fee, issue a certified record of live birth to any person who can verify his or her status as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth. A homeless services provider that has knowledge of a person's housing status shall verify a person's status for the purposes of this subdivision. In accordance with all other application requirements as set forth in Section 103526, a request for a certified record of live birth made pursuant to this subdivision shall be made by a homeless person or a homeless child or youth on behalf of themselves, or by any person lawfully entitled to request a certified record of live birth on behalf of a child, if the child has been verified as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth pursuant to this section. A person applying for a certified record of live birth under this subdivision is entitled to one birth record, per application, for each eligible person verified as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth. For purposes of this subdivision, an affidavit developed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall constitute sufficient verification that a person is a homeless person or a homeless child or youth. A person applying for a certified record of live birth under this subdivision shall not be charged a fee for verification of his or her eligibility.
  (b) The State Department of Public Health shall develop an affidavit attesting to an applicant's status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth. For purposes of this section, the affidavit shall not be deemed complete unless it is signed by both the person making a request for a certified record of live birth pursuant to subdivision (a) and a homeless services provider that has knowledge of the applicant's housing status.
  (c) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement and administer this section through an all-county letter or similar instructions from the director or State Registrar without taking regulatory action.
  (d) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
  (1) A "homeless child or youth" has the same meaning as the definition of "homeless children and youths" as set forth in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).
  (2) A "homeless person" has the same meaning as the definition of that term set forth in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).
  (3) A "homeless services provider" includes:
  (A) A governmental or nonprofit agency receiving federal, state, or county or municipal funding to provide services to a "homeless person" or "homeless child or youth," or that is otherwise sanctioned to provide those services by a local homeless continuum of care organization.
  (B) An attorney licensed to practice law in this state.
  (C) A local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youth, pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code, or a school social worker.
  (D) A human services provider or public social services provider funded by the State of California to provide homeless children or youth services, health services, mental or behavioral health services, substance use disorder services, or public assistance or employment services.
  (E) A law enforcement officer designated as a liaison to the homeless population by a local police department or sheriff's department within the state.

The State Registrar, local registrar or county recorder may use a printed, stamped or photographically reproduced facsimile signature in certifying to a record in his or her office provided the certification has the seal of his or her office affixed thereto.

Certified copies or certification of abstract information required to be filed under authority of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 103200) in the offices of the State Registrar and county clerks shall not include information relative to occupation, highest school grade completed, color or race, religious denomination, previous marriages ended by death, divorce or annulment, or children.

(a) The State Registrar shall, upon request and payment of a fee, as provided in subdivision (c), supply to any applicant a decorative heirloom certificate, as described in subdivision (b), of any birth registered with that official. When the original form of the certificate of a live birth furnished by the State Registrar contains 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 the copy of the record. If the original form of the certificate of live birth has been sealed, the information on the sealed certificate shall not be included on the decorative heirloom certificate.
  (b) The decorative heirloom certificate issued under subdivision (a) shall be of a distinctive design as determined by the department and shall include the seal of the State of California and a facsimile of the State Registrar's signature, but shall include no elected official's signature. The certificate shall only contain identification information, as determined by the State Registrar.
  (c) The fee required for the decorative heirloom birth certificate issued pursuant to this section shall be thirty-two dollars ($32) until December 31, 1988, at which time the fee shall be reduced to thirty dollars ($30). Until December 31, 1988, not less than ten dollars ($10) of the fee shall be allocated to the State Children's Trust Fund established in Section 18969 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. After December 31, 1988, not less than fifteen dollars ($15) of the fee shall be allocated to the State Children's Trust Fund. The remainder of the fee shall be utilized to reimburse the State Department of Health Services and the State Registrar, in part, for the administrative costs of developing, preparing, and providing the decorative heirloom certificate.