Hi Dean and All,
Dean, a profuse "thank you" for getting that figured out. I was just at the MN
Hist. Soc. yesterday looking at the death index on microfilm (and wishing it was
online and searchable.) You said these records are being entered into a computer
database for easier access. I am assuming that the records being entered are the
1900 and on that are in the microfilmed card file now. True? They aren't going
to go back to each county and try to gather earlier records, are they?
Do they have a date set for a goal of *when* these death records would be
accessable online? Do you know which fields they are including in the
computerized database? Is it similar to KY Vitals online database?
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/sources/vitals.html
Inquiring minds are interested and have an intense interest in knowing. Many
thanks for your work and dedication.
Kathy
WashCoGen(a)aol.com wrote:
Hello, all. I have spoken with several people who are familiar with
the new
language added to the Minnesota birth and death certificate law, known as
"tangible interest." It needs to be restated that the law has nothing to do
with access to records in any way. If the record was public before, it
remains public. MHS has been microfilming all the Minnesota Department of
Health death records and making them available, and that has not changed
(they are working on the early 1940s, BTW). These records are being entered
into a computer database for even easier access in the near future.
The law added a list of individuals who have "tangible interest" in obtaining
a certified copy of a Minnesota birth or death certificate. (A certified copy
has the embossed seal.) MDH has changed their method for obtaining a
certified copy to comply with the change in law. The change was made to
prevent fraud, not to block genealogists from birth and death data. You
should still be able to march down to your county courthouse and see any
public birth or death record just as before. At MHS, nothing has changed. All
the birth and death record microfilms are still out there for you to see and
copy without restriction; the books with private data (such as adoptions) are
still handled more carefully, just as before.
What the Minnesota Genealogical Society is interested in knowing is whether
access to public data is freely being allowed. Undoubtedly some local
registrars are going to overreact to the new law and as genealogists we need
to make sure our ability to see public birth and death records under law is
being carried out. The only thing that should have changed is the process to
issue certified copies.
To see the Minnesota Department of Health's new issuance policy, see:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/data/bd_1.htm
Dean Thilgen
MGS-MHS liaison