Case Information
*1 OFFICE 0~ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TzxAs AUsTIN Dr. 680. y. CO%
state &alth Offiber
Auatiin, Texar
beea rsoeiy- an~unreglrtereQ the County Judge, to the Coun8p Sudgr fee's mentioned above ooa- oliz4ed ln4r~Lble 3988 and ire6 Btatutel of 19$6t
The pertiaent paragraph of H.B. &of Party-rlxth kgislature, inrolylng birthi and death@ 'not preolcn)sl~ registered* Is, oontalned~la Beat&on 2 and reads as follows:
Dr. Gee. W. COX, ~Page 2
“And provided further, that any oltizen of the State of Texas wishing to file the reo- ord of any birth or death, not prevlouely reg- iatered, pm eub+alt to the Probate court In th& gountr where the birth or death oocurea a reoord of that birth or death written & the adopted forms of birt&.and death oertlfioatee. The oertltloate
shall be subetantlated by the
affldavlt of the medical attendant present at the time of the birth, or in oaee of death, the,affldavit of the pbJnlc$an last in atten- dance upon the deoeased, or the undertaker who burled the body. When the affidavit of the medical attendant or undertaker oannot be eeour- ed, the oertlrioate ehall be eupported by the affidavit of some person who was aoqualnted with the faot8 surrounding the birth or death, at the time the birth or death oocured, with a seoond affidavit of 8ome person who ia’ ao- qualnted with the facts surrounding the birth or death, and who le nob rel+ated to lhe+indlrid- he Proba e ourt ual by blood or marriage. uch other Information or m
ad&z pmaire ge may be deemed neoeeeary to eatabllsh ‘t
D of the indivi oert - floate. and the truthfuln%of zatatementi in that reoord. The Clerk of the salQ @de C r 8 outa State Bureau of Vital Statlstio8 with an e
from the court to the State RePlstrar that‘tu record be, or be not, aooeoted, pha State % - latrar Is authorized to aooept the oertlfioatz when verified in the above manner, and shall Issue oertlfied ooplee ai euoh recorda as pro- vided for in Seation 21 of this Act. Suoh oer- tifled ooplea shall be prima facie evidenoe ln all Court&and laces of the facts stated there- on. The State Ii ureau of Vital Statistics shall turniah the forms upon whioh such reoorde are filed, and no other lorm i&all be ueed for that purpoee. * (gnderecoring oura).
Partioular attention Is oalled to the follow- ‘The olerk of the said Court &all for- *3 ,314 Dr. Gee. W. Cox, Page 3
ward the certificate to the State Bureau of VI-.
tal Statistice with an order from the Court to the State Registrar that the record be. or be not aocepted; The State RIelstrer Is iuthor- && to aace& the oertlrloate when verlfled in the above manner, * l l * (IJnder r o o rlng our81
The above quoted section Of 2. B. 614 oreater a new method for. the registration of births and Qdaths ‘not previously registered*, In opinion Ho. O-1201 thlr department has held the phrase “not preriouely reglatered* applloable to all reoor5LI and oertifloatee of birth and death not regietered In strlot oompllinoe with Seotlon 9 and 12 of Article 4477, %vleed Civil Statutes. The new method lnvolvee the lmrlng of erl- denoe by the Probate Court anU.an order OS the oourt oerltying or denying the rebord and lnstruotlng
State he letrar to accept or reJeot the record. In. ii o. O-1203 we have ruled that the matter of de-
opinion layed reglatratlon of birth6 and death6 be aooorded the etatue and dlgnltr of a probate proceeding a,nd that a record of the prooeedlngs be kept.
In view of the above reasoning and previous opln- Ion6 of this department, lt~ followe that the order of of birth the Probate Judge aooompanylng the oertlrioate or death registration of wlrich has been delayed, haa Suufaud’olal foroe and Is binding upon the.State %g- lo
The Statute reads that ‘Ithe State negirtrar authorized to aooept the oertlfioate when rerlfled In the above manner l &&. when verlfled by court order.
At the time the ceglrlature conferred the authorl- tl to accept the oertltloate upon the State %glstrar, In our opinion It lmpliedly subJeote6 the State R,egls- trar to the Judgment the court In reepeot to the va- lldlty of the record. Gonsequeritlr,, we reaoh the oon- elusion that the order would be binding upon the State not ref’uee to accept a ce;F:$ate Registrar. He 00uia of delayed regletratlon of a birth or d.eath.
other band, this does not mean that the State Regletrar could not return a certifloate to’the Probate court Correction when patent errore or omissions, or inoon- sistenoiea apvear on the face of the oertifLoateb
It le our opinion that the State Registrar Is *4 Dr. Gee. W. Cox, Page 4
not authorlzed under any oonaltlone to refuse to file a record of a birth or death not previously re letered which has been approved by the county (probate f Judge when eald reoord on Its faoe Is teohnloall~ oorreot.
Your eeoolid question is anawered in oplnlone Nos. O-1060 and O-1203 of this department, in whloh we hold that the feee due the county (probate) Judge and oountg clerk are payable by those who receive the bene- fit of the. eervloee, i.e. the apolloante In reepeot to delayed registration ofi births and deaths. It 1s true that the etatute (H.B. 614) doee not specify who ehall bear the burden of paying the fees involved in the preoeedlnge, but it le our oplnlon that the cltlren apclylng for the delayed registration of birth o’r death must pay the fees the:oounty (probate) Judge an+ oounty olerk.
.Your third queetlon Is treated in our opinion No. 0-1066 In that opinion we held that Artlolee 3925 and 3930, &vleed civil f)tatuter, of the General ?re~ Statutes, governed in the UaSe oU ddlayed regletrtitlone of births and deathe under H.B. 614, and that the ooun- ty Judge and oounty olerk shell eaoh reoeive the fee of fifty-aente (#.SO) in return for their re~peotlve servicer of entering order and oertlfylng the 6-e to the bureau of Vital 8tatletlce,
In respect to the fee of fifty-oente ($.50) the county olerk, we quoted in opinion O-1066 the fol- lowing provision of Artiole 3930, %vleed Civil stat- utes:
“Each certificate to any faot or faote oon- talned in the reoorde of his office, with oe?- tlfloate and seal, where not otherwiee provided for * * * fifty-oehte ($.60).a The oounty olerk under said provision would be entitled to fifty-oente (#.50) for forwarding the aer- tlfloate to the State Bureau of Vital 2tatletloe wlth an order from the Court.
It la our further opinion that the following provision of Artlole 3330, Rei~leea Civil Statutes, *5 also apply:
v0ula *Recording all papers required or permitted by law to.be recorded, not otherwise provided for, lncludlng certlfioate ana seal, for eaoh 100 word8 * l l ten cents ($.lO).” it 1s our opinion that the oounty olerk 1s also entitled to hla recoralng fee m~U@d in the above provlelon Artlole 3930, +erleed Civil statutes.
Your fourth a& final queetlon 1s fully answer-, ea In opinion No. O-1201 In whlah thle department ruled that applications for registration of birth and death oertlfloatee *not prevlouely registersa*, In acoordance vlth the terms o.f ?I. B. 614 should be numbered and en- tered on the docket of the &obate Court Ind that *ll -prMeedlnga in aannectlon therewith should be entered In the minutes of the Probatd Court.
We sug id the r0u0mg entry for the mlnuter of the Probate 4 ourt as a general form in the event ai the grsqtlng af,aaia above reg$atration:
: [1] : : : t : : : : : : : : : : : : may be), having been substantiated by the aifldavlt of death) eLell~~O,i Btatt of-%edas. (or of the ineaioal attendant, The oer.tlfloate~~of birth been aeoured): %e oertlfloate nresent at the time of the birth laat d&th)i aoqualnted with the faote.aurroundlng brfldavlt taker aeath, to-wit: aubetantlatea by an afi”laarlt ai n person who~~was medical attendant or undertaker~not having (The in attendanoe upon the deoeaeed “08 thle dar, came on to be heard the appllca- ot the physician, lot havlrw been urevlously -’ ( to file of the birth keoord (0; &eath)(‘as tj 4 a’eitizan , vha 6urle-4 the body. . the eald birth having beea ior death). reqlstered. ualer- or the : the birth ob he case the ; who was (or . : ,: : . : : : : : : 1 I c : : : : : : *6 Dr. Qeo. W. Cox, Page 6
not related to the deceaeed or the Individual by : blood or marriage (or In the event the oourt seea : : ?It to require iurther ln?oromtlon or eridenoe ae I : to the oltitenehip of the applloant or InOlvldual : : : : raking the aertlfloate), and esld oertliloate be- : ing MeF eubetantlated by ?urther etldenoe and : _ _ _ - . _ arf laavlt e or : : as to the truth%- : :. nees of etatembntr maae In the oertlfloete : : and as to the oltltenahip of the oltlzen or lndlvl-: : dual making the oertlflcate. : : : It appearing to the oourt that the birth of : : : oocurea In the County o? State of Texas on the
: say of A.D. i9 (or In oaee o?- : : : death), It appe:rIng to the oou!t that the death : : : : : : : day of by ordered o? the State Beglatrar of Texas, State Bureau of Vital %atlstIcs, the County Court of the County of Of State IS, TEEZFORE, Clerk of : that the ORDERED IT forvard , State of Texas, on the ooourea the oertlfloate , A.D. 19 In the Bounty of and lttq. here- that the record . to the ' ; : : : : : : herein be aocepted. : : : : : County Juage :
:
! :. Trusting that the above ?ully anewems the tour Lnquiriea contained In your letter, we are
Yours very truly
APPROVE3 ATTORNEY OENESAL OF TEXAS 3plnlon OoamIttee
By BWB
Chairman
By (BIgned Disk 8tout
Dick Btout AecJstant DS:ob ENCLS. (3 oplnlons O-1066, o-12Ol,O-12303)
Dr. ho. W. Cox, Page 7
0.0.: Hon. John R. Shook
Criminal District Attorney San Antonio, Texas Hon. Leo. C. Buckley
0.0. County Xttorney
Zapata County Zapata, Texas Hr. Leon Kotosky
C.O. ga;bXnt County Attorney exam
t T
AFFROVED SEPT. 13, 19S9 (Signed> ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TFXAS