House File 657 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  COMMITTEE ON
                                     GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT

                                 (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 238)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to preparation and issuance of vital statistics
  2    certificates.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 2635HV (1) 86
    aw/sc

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 144.45, Code 2015, is amended to read as
  1  2 follows:
  1  3    144.45  Certified copies ==== other copies.
  1  4    1.  The state registrar and the county registrar shall,
  1  5 upon written request from any applicant entitled to a record,
  1  6 issue a certified copy of any certificate or record in the
  1  7 registrar's custody or of a part of a certificate or record.
  1  8 Each copy issued shall show the date of registration; and
  1  9 copies issued from records marked "delayed", "amended", or
  1 10 "court order" shall be similarly marked and show the effective
  1 11 date.
  1 12    2.  A certified copy of a certificate, or any part thereof,
  1 13 shall be considered for all purposes the same as the original
  1 14 and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated,
  1 15 provided that the evidentiary value of a certificate or record
  1 16 filed more than one year after the event, or a record which
  1 17 has been amended, shall be determined by the judicial or
  1 18 administrative body or official before whom the certificate is
  1 19 offered as evidence.
  1 20    3.  The national division of vital statistics may be
  1 21 furnished copies or data which it requires for national
  1 22 statistics, provided that the state be reimbursed for the cost
  1 23 of furnishing data, and provided further that data shall not
  1 24 be used for other than statistical purposes by the national
  1 25 division of vital statistics unless so authorized by the state
  1 26 registrar.
  1 27    4.  Federal, state, local, and other public or private
  1 28 agencies may, upon written request, be furnished copies or data
  1 29 for statistical purposes upon terms or conditions prescribed
  1 30 by the department.
  1 31    5.  a.  No person shall prepare or issue any certificate
  1 32 which purports to be an original, or certified copy, or copy of
  1 33 a certificate of birth, death, fetal death, or marriage except
  1 34 as authorized in this chapter.
  1 35    b.  No person, in the person's capacity as an employee or
  2  1 agent of the state or a political subdivision of the state,
  2  2 shall prepare or issue any certificate which purports to be a
  2  3 copy of a certificate of birth, death, fetal death, or marriage
  2  4 except as necessary in the scope of the person's employment or
  2  5 agency or as otherwise authorized in this chapter.
  2  6                           EXPLANATION
  2  7 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2  8 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2  9    This bill relates to the preparation and issuance of vital
  2 10 statistics certificates.
  2 11    Under current law, a person is not allowed to prepare or
  2 12 issue an original, certified copy, or copy of a certificate
  2 13 of birth, death, fetal death, or marriage except as provided
  2 14 in Code chapter 144. The bill maintains these restrictions
  2 15 for originals and certified copies. For other copies, the
  2 16 bill provides that no person, in the person's capacity as an
  2 17 employee or agent of the state, or a political subdivision
  2 18 of the state, shall prepare or issue any certificate which
  2 19 purports to be a copy of such a certificate except as necessary
  2 20 in the scope of the person's employment or agency or as
  2 21 provided in Code chapter 144.
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       aw/sc