- (a) This section establishes requirements governing the control of public accessibility to birth records and covering adoption placements and indexes of such records in order to insure the confidentiality of adoption placements.
(b) Availability of birth records generally.
- (1) Birth records less than 50 years old are not available to the public for searching or inspection. Records over 25-50 years old, actual books, volumes of original records, or records themselves shall not be made available to the public in the interest of preservation of the records.
- (2) The local registration official, upon receipt of a record of birth based on adoption must either forward the original record filed at the time of the event to the state registrar for enclosure in a sealed file, or delete or expunge such record.
(c) Availability of indexes or listings of birth records.
- (1) The indexes or listings of birth records are not available to the public for searching or inspection, if the fact of adoption or paternity determination can be revealed or broken or if the index contains specific identifying information relating to the parents of the child.
- (2) The local registration official must delete or expunge the identifying information relating to the original birth record filed at the time of the event, from the indexes maintained in that office and made available to the public.
- (3) A local registration official may prepare a summary birth or death index for public use. The index shall be in alphabetical order by surname of the registrant. The index shall consist of the last, first, and middle name, if any, of the registrant, the date of the event, the county in which the event occurred, and the file number of the record. If the record falls into the open record category, a general index may be made available for public use. This index shall be alphabetical by surname of the registrant. In addition to the previously mentioned information, names of the parents may also be listed. The fact of adoption or paternity determination must not be disclosed nor be able to be broken by any such indexes.
Source Note:The provisions of this §181.10 adopted to be effective January 29, 1988, 12 TexReg 4785; amended to be effective October 8, 1990, 15 TexReg 5603.