CALIFORNIA: FYI - Access to CA Vital
Records changing
[Posted to the Genie-Angels list by Terri Walker]
If you've put off getting vital records documents for family members who
were born or died in California, now is the time to get moving.
Informational copies of California birth and death certificates will become
more difficult to obtain after January 1, 2006.
After that date, according to the State of California website, INFORMATIONAL
certified copies of birth and death certificates will be available only
through the statewide database prepared by the State Registrar. This is a
significant change from the current source, the county recorder's office.
Through the end of the year, informational copies of birth and death
certificates for Los Angeles County can be ordered online at the Recorder's
website,
http://lavote.net/recorder/birth_death.htm. Be sure to specify the
INFORMATIONAL copy and follow instructions on the website. Other counties
may have similar websites. Ron Filion, a force behind the great San
Francisco genealogy website,
www.sfgenealogy.com, reports that he spoke
recently with one of the local County Clerk's offices. He was told
that the State was NOT ready to do this. So, unless they get a legal
extension, there may a significant delay (12 to 24 months) as compared
to the 2-3 week wait that we are currently experiencing in Los Angeles.
Here's a link to the State of California regulations and the relevant
paragraph:
http://www.privacy.ca.gov/code/hsc103525.htm
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 any source other than
the statewide database prepared by the State Registrar. This subdivision
shall become operative on January 1, 2006