Bill Text: CA AB2275 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Certified copies of marriage, birth, and death certificates: electronic application.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-06-24 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Failed passage. [AB2275 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2275-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2275 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2014
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 additionally authorize the request and
the notarized statement to be a submitted in electronic form, as
specified , 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 .
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, or digitized
image, or the electronic form of a request
image 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,
perjury or a faxed copy or digitized image of a notarized
statement sworn under penalty of perjury, or an electronic
acknowledgment 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.
(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 accompanying the electronic
request , sworn under penalty of perjury, that the
requester is an authorized person pursuant to this section .
The electronic request and acknowledgment
shall also provide a method to securely
for the official to establish the
applicant identity of the requester
electronically, as an authorized person, pursuant
to this section. The official may then furnish a certified
copy to the applicant. 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).
(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.
(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.
(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.
