File No. 622

House of Representatives, April 24, 2013

The Committee on Government Administration and Elections reported through REP. JUTILA of the 37th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT EXEMPTING DEATH CERTIFICATES OF MINORS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FOR A SIX-MONTH PERIOD.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) The Department of Public Health and registrars of vital statistics shall restrict access to and issuance of a certified or uncertified copy of the death certificate of a minor who was under eighteen years of age at the time of death until six months after the date of such minor's death to the following eligible parties: (1) Such minor's spouse, parents, guardians, siblings and grandparents; (2) the licensed funeral director or embalmer directly responsible for the disposition of such minor's remains acting on behalf of the minor's spouse, parents, guardians, siblings or grandparents; and (3) agents of a state or federal agency as approved by the department. Any such certified or uncertified copy of the death certificate shall not be subject to disclosure under the provisions of chapter 14 of the general statutes during such six-month period. After such six-month period has elapsed, the provisions of section 7-51a of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall apply. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to fetal death records.

Sec. 2. Section 7-51a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(a) [Any] Except as provided in section 1 of this act, any person eighteen years of age or older may purchase certified copies of marriage and death records, and certified copies of records of births or fetal deaths which are at least one hundred years old, in the custody of any registrar of vital statistics. [The] Except as provided in section 1 of this act, the department may issue uncertified copies of death certificates for deaths occurring less than one hundred years ago, and uncertified copies of birth, marriage, death and fetal death certificates for births, marriages, deaths and fetal deaths that occurred at least one hundred years ago, to researchers approved by the department pursuant to section 19a-25, and to state and federal agencies approved by the department. During all normal business hours, members of genealogical societies incorporated or authorized by the Secretary of the State to do business or conduct affairs in this state shall (1) have full access to all vital records in the custody of any registrar of vital statistics, including certificates, ledgers, record books, card files, indexes and database printouts, except for those records containing Social Security numbers protected pursuant to 42 USC 405 (c)(2)(C), [and] confidential files on adoptions, gender change, gestational agreements and paternity and the death certificate of a minor until six months after the date of such minor's death, protected pursuant to section 1 of this act, (2) be permitted to make notes from such records, (3) be permitted to purchase certified copies of such records, and (4) be permitted to incorporate statistics derived from such records in the publications of such genealogical societies. For all vital records containing Social Security numbers that are protected from disclosure pursuant to federal law, the Social Security numbers contained on such records shall be redacted from any certified copy of such records issued to a genealogist by a registrar of vital statistics.

(b) For marriage and civil union licenses, the Social Security numbers of the parties to the marriage or civil union shall be recorded in the "administrative purposes" section of the marriage or civil union license and the application for such license. All persons specified on the license, including the parties to the marriage or civil union, officiator and local registrar shall have access to the Social Security numbers specified on the marriage or civil union license and the application for such license for the purpose of processing the license. Only the parties to a marriage or civil union, or entities authorized by state or federal law, may receive a certified copy of a marriage or civil union license with the Social Security numbers included on the license. Any other individual, researcher or state or federal agency requesting a certified or uncertified copy of any marriage or civil union license in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be provided such copy with such Social Security numbers removed or redacted, or with the "administrative purposes" section omitted.

(c) For deaths occurring after December 31, 2001, the Social Security number, occupation, business or industry, race, Hispanic origin if applicable, and educational level of the deceased person, if known, shall be recorded in the "administrative purposes" section of the death certificate. All parties specified on the certificate, including the informant, licensed funeral director, licensed embalmer, conservator, surviving spouse, physician and town clerk, shall have access to the Social Security numbers of the decedent as well as other information contained in the "administrative purposes" section specified on the original death certificate for the purpose of processing the certificate. For any death occurring after July 1, 1997, only the surviving spouse, next of kin or state and federal agencies authorized by federal law may receive a certified copy of a death certificate with the decedent's Social Security number or the complete "administrative purposes" section included on the certificate. [Any] Except as provided in section 1 of this act, any researcher requesting a death certificate for a death occurring after July 1, 1997, may obtain the information included in the "administrative purposes" section of such certificate, [except that] provided the decedent's Social Security number shall be redacted.

(d) The registrar of vital statistics of any town or city in this state that has access to an electronic vital records system, as authorized by the department, may use such system to issue certified copies of birth, death, fetal death or marriage certificates that are electronically filed in such system.

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In section 2(a), "Except as provided in section 1 of this act" was added for clarity and the provision regarding access to a death certificate of a minor was reworded to conform with the language of section 1.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.


OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the Department of Public Health or municipalities from restricting, with certain exceptions, the release of a minor's death certificate for six months postmortem.

The Out Years

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 5421

AN ACT EXEMPTING DEATH CERTIFICATES OF MINORS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FOR A SIX-MONTH PERIOD.

SUMMARY:

This bill, with certain exceptions, prohibits the Department of Public Health (DPH) and registrars of vital statistics from disclosing a minor's death certificate to anyone for a six-month period following his or her death. The exceptions are (1) the minor's spouse, parent, grandparent, guardian, or sibling; (2) the licensed funeral director or embalmer acting on behalf of such relatives and directly responsible for disposing of the minor's remains; and (3) agents of a state or federal agency, as approved by DPH.

The bill specifies that (1) certified and uncertified copies of the certificate are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act during this period and (2) it does not apply to fetal death records.

By law, anyone age 18 or older may purchase a certified copy of a death certificate. Uncertified copies are available to approved (1) researchers, (2) genealogical societies, and (3) state and federal agencies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2013

BACKGROUND

Related Bill

sHB 5733, reported favorably by the Public Health Committee, limits the publicly available information contained on a death certificate.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Government Administration and Elections Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute