Folks, a major part of our 20th century research records are about to be
denied us. PLEASE, email or call a KY senator and/or the governor's office
immediately to express your opinion about this bill. If your ancestors were
from KY but you don't live in KY, this still affects you and your ability to
do long distance research online. 2 URLs are provided for you at the bottom
of this message
Sharon
The Kentucky Legislature is about to make some changes to the
law concerning birth and death records in Kentucky making it harder
to get copies. The only ones who can get a copy will be yourself,
immediate family member, or authorized representative, i.e.. lawyer,
doctor, funeral director.
The biggest change is that the new law eliminates the INDEX for births
and deaths. No part of the record may be obtained unless you can
meet the criteria for obtaining a copy.The index will no longer be
available online, on CD or in libraries.
There is a provision for genealogists to get copies of births after
100 years and deaths after the person has been deceased for 50
years. If the person is still living, you must get permission from
that person to obtain the certificate. What about someone who
died in say, 1956? How will you get permission to receive a copy?
House Bill HB 523 is currently in the Judiciary Committee. It will
be voted on in the Kentucky Senate within a few days, perhaps as
early as tomorrow. PLEASE, send a message to the Senators
from Kentucky telling them how much we rely on these records
for genealogical research. Genealogical tourism, including money
spent for copies at the Office of Vital Statistics, Historical
Societies, and Archives in Kentucky will be affected by this change.
Money talks especially in these days of budget shortfalls.
The email addresses for Kentucky State Senators can be found
at this link:
http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/Senate/senadd.htm
http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/02rs/search.idq