§ 19a-41a — Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut access to state's birth and death registries.

(a) Upon the request of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation or the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, the Department of Public Health shall grant said requesting tribe access to the state's birth and death registries in the department's electronic vital records system. Such access shall allow said tribe to register in the state's electronic birth and death registries all births and deaths that occur on land held in trust by the United States for said tribe in lieu of a town or municipality registering such births and deaths. Any birth or death certificate issued by said tribe for registration in the state's electronic birth and death registries shall be recognized as valid in the state, provided such certificate meets the requirements for registering, indexing, maintaining, issuing, correcting and amending such certificate set forth in sections 7-36 to 7-78, inclusive, 19a-40 to 19a-45, inclusive, 19a-322, 19a-323, and 46b-450 to 46b-480, inclusive, and in the regulations of Connecticut state agencies adopted pursuant to said sections. Any entity or official responsible for filing a birth or death certificate pursuant to the general statutes with a town or municipality shall cooperate and fulfill its filing obligations with a requesting tribe in the same manner that it would cooperate and fulfill its filing obligations with a town or municipality. Such entities and officials shall be subject to the same terms of enforcement for failure to cooperate or fulfill their filing obligations with a requesting tribe as they would for failure to cooperate or fulfill their filing obligations with a town or municipality. (b) If the department determines that a tribe granted access to such birth and death registries has failed to comply with any of the requirements of any provision of subsection (a) of this section or has submitted filings to the system that do not conform with such requirements, the department may give notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to said tribe of the facts or conduct that contributed to such determination and the specific provisions of the general statutes or regulations of Connecticut state agencies that are alleged to have been violated. The department shall provide said tribe an opportunity to demonstrate compliance with such provisions and submit a plan of correction to achieve compliance with such provisions. If said tribe does not demonstrate compliance or fully implement a department approved plan of correction on or before thirty days after receiving notice from the department under this subsection, the department may terminate the tribe's access to the state's electronic birth and death registries in the department's electronic vital records system or remove any nonconforming filings from such registries. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to (1) grant the department jurisdiction over a requesting tribe or its tribal office responsible for the issuance and maintenance of birth or death certificates, or (2) limit the department's authority to (A) grant or restrict a requesting tribe's access to the state's electronic birth and death registries consistent with the provisions of this section, or (B) remove any nonconforming filings from such registries.

Legislative History

(P.A. 24-68, S. 39.) History: P.A. 24-68 effective May 28, 2024.