§ 40:39.1 — Certified copies of birth certificates and death certificates; clerks of district courts

Louisiana § 40:39.1

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 40: Public Health and Safety

Text

§39.1. Certified copies of birth certificates and death certificates; clerks of district courts
and the Second City Court of the city of New Orleans; Vital Records Conversion
Dedicated Fund Account
A. The state registrar of vital records shall promulgate rules to implement the
issuance of certified copies of birth certificates and death certificates through the office of
the clerk of district court in each parish and the office of clerk of the Second City Court of
the city of New Orleans. Such rules shall apply only to issuance of those birth and death
records that are available for electronic issuance from the birth and death databases of the
vital records registry and shall include access to the following items:
(1) Automated access, retrieval, and production of short-form birth certificates, long-form birth certificates, and death certificates by the clerks of district courts and the clerk of
the Second City Court of the city of New Orleans using the data network available to the
secretary of state.
(2) Record searches to be conducted by the offices of the clerks of court.
(3) Sale of certified copies of birth and death certificates issued by the offices of the
clerks of court.
B.(1) The clerk of district court in each parish and the clerk of the Second City Court
of the city of New Orleans may issue certified copies of short-form birth certificate cards and
long-form birth certificates and death certificates in accordance with rules promulgated
pursuant to Subsection A of this Section. In addition to fees collected for issuance of a birth
record or death certificate as provided in R.S. 40:40, the clerk of court shall collect a fee of
five dollars for a short-form birth certificate and nineteen dollars for a long-form birth
certificate or a death certificate. A short-form birth certificate card may be purchased only
by an individual who also purchases a long-form birth certificate in the same transaction.
(2) Clerks shall pay to the state registrar such amounts as are required in R.S. 40:40.
In addition, four dollars for each long-form birth certificate or death certificate issued by each
clerk of court shall be remitted to the state treasurer on the tenth day of each month for
deposit in the state treasury. The funds deposited shall be credited to the Bond Security and
Redemption Fund. Out of the funds remaining in the Bond Security and Redemption Fund
after a sufficient amount is allocated to pay all obligations secured by the full faith and credit
of the state which become due and payable in any fiscal year, the treasurer shall credit to the
Vital Records Conversion Dedicated Fund Account, hereby created, an amount equal to the
funds deposited under the provisions of this Section. Monies deposited into the Vital
Records Conversion Dedicated Fund Account shall be categorized as fees and self-generated
revenue for the sole purpose of reporting related to the executive budget, supporting
documents, and general appropriation bills and shall be available for annual appropriation
by the legislature.
(3) The monies held in the Vital Records Conversion Dedicated Fund Account shall
only be appropriated with the mutual consent of the secretary of state and the secretary of the
Louisiana Department of Health for the following purposes:
(a) For installation and establishment of a communications network and computer
hardware to provide for the electronic issuance of birth and death certificates.
(b) For maintenance of the communications network and related computer hardware.
(c) For conversion of existing birth and death records to a format suitable for
electronic issuance.
(4) All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the Vital Records Conversion
Dedicated Fund Account at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the account. The
monies in the account shall be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as monies in the
state general fund. All interest earned on account monies invested by the treasurer shall be
deposited in the account.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in addition to fees
collected for issuance of a birth record or death certificate as provided in R.S. 40:40, and
Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the clerks of district court in East Feliciana Parish and West
Feliciana Parish may charge an additional ten dollar fee for issuance of certified copies of
birth certificates and death certificates.
C. The clerks of district courts, the clerk of the Second City Court of the city of New
Orleans, and the secretary of state shall be subject to provisions of this Chapter governing
confidentiality of vital records information in the same manner provided for the state
registrar and provisions governing to whom a certified copy of a birth certificate or death
certificate may be issued. Any birth certificate or death certificate issued by the clerk of a
district court and the clerk of the Second City Court of the city of New Orleans shall be
accepted as an original record.
D. The state registrar shall promulgate the rules necessary for the implementation of
the provisions of this Section on or before January 1, 2015.

Legislative History

Acts 1986, No. 798, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1277, §1; Acts 2014, No. 763, §2; Acts 2015, No. 251, §1; Acts 2016, No. 270, §1, eff. May 27, 2016; Acts 2016, No. 390, §1; Acts 2021, No. 114, §10, eff. July 1, 2022; Acts 2022, No. 271, §4.