AB 297

Current law contains certain provisions addressing the preparation and

issuance of vital records and the authorized copying of vital records. Vital records

include certificates of birth, death, divorce, or annulment, and termination of

domestic partnership, marriage documents, and declarations of domestic

partnership. Some of these provisions make a distinction based upon whether the

event that is the subject of a record occurred before October 1, 1907. Current law

provides for the issuance of certified and uncertified copies of vital records by the

state registrar appointed by the Department of Health Services (state registrar) or

a local registrar, subject to various restrictions, and for the issuance of uncertified

copies of vital records for events occurring before October 1, 1907, by other persons,

such as the State Historical Society. Certified copies of vital records include a

certification including the seal of the issuing officer, are deemed the same as the

original vital record, and, with certain exceptions, are regarded as being

presumptive evidence of any fact stated in the vital record. Uncertified copies do not

have the same status or certification as certified records and have a notice on their

face that they are uncertified.

Current law provides that any person who makes available to the public in

electronic format an uncertified photocopy of a vital record for an event occurring

before October 1, 1907, other than a vital record held by the state registrar or a local

registrar, is guilty of a Class I felony. Current law does not specifically prohibit

making any other vital records available to the public in electronic format, but it does

provide that, subject to certain exceptions, any person who prepares or issues any

paper or film which purports to be, or carries the appearance of, an original or a copy

of a vital record, whether certified or uncertified, also is guilty of a Class I felony.

This bill repeals the prohibition against making certain records for events

occurring before October 1, 1907, available in electronic format and specifically

provides that any person may copy or make available electronically an uncertified

copy of a vital record for an event occurring before October 1, 1907. In addition, the

bill repeals the requirement that uncertified copies of vital records for events

occurring before October 1, 1907, contain a notice that they are uncertified.