OHFAIRFI-L Archives

From: "Karen S. Smith" <>
Subject: [OHFAIRFI-L] Major Changes to Ohio Vital Records Access
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 21:33:33 -0400
References: <200308061600.h76G0lLp015593@lists5.rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <025901c35c48$41d53b80$31135b3f@gayle>

House Bill 95, Ohio's budget bill, was passed and went into effect 1 July
2003. For those of you who are not aware of the portion of this bill
affecting genealogists please read the following:

On 5 June, the Senate approved House Bill 95 (it was approved by the Senate
Finance Committee on 3 June). With HB95, there will no longer be
uncertified copies of vital records available from the Ohio Department of
Health and the local vital statistics registrars. Also, certified copies
will have an additional $5 surcharge (making the cost of a certified copy a
minimum of $15, as the local registrars will also no longer be allowed to
charge less than the state).

You can read the bill as passed by the Senate at:
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText125/125_HB_95_PS_N.html

The pertinent sections are 3705.23 and 3705.24. (It is a huge page; be
patient while it loads.)

Because this language matches the House version of the bill, there is
little hope that it would change in the committee working to reconcile the
House and Senate versions.

The Ohio Genealogical Society Board of Trustees approved a resolution
explaining the ramifications of HB95 to Ohio genealogists. Copies of this
resolution was hand-delivered to every Ohio Senator's office.
Representatives of the Board met with representatives of the Ohio
Department of Health. Included in the resolution and in the discussions
were good, reasonable, logical explanations as to why eliminating
uncertified copies will do nothing to prevent identity theft. We gave them
possible alternatives so that uncertified copies would no longer be a
financial hardship on the agencies involved. Even with these actions, as
well as the countless phone calls, letters, and e-mails to the Ohio Senate
from genealogists and organizations from across the state and the nation,
the bill went through unchanged.

It is likely (even probable) that the next step will be to restrict access
-- either with a time restriction and/or an access restriction (only
qualified parties can get a copy of the record). People have reported that
local vital statistics registrars are stating that they are not allowed to
issue copies except to the person or the next of kin. HB 95 made no such
provisions. However, these instances of restrictions need to be noted so
that those agencies can be properly informed on what the current
requirements are.

Registrars in each of Ohio's Public Health Districts are determining their
own policies regarding access to these public records. According to the
Fairfield County Registrar, Jane McGuire, the proposed plan for access to
public records will include the following:

Those wanting access to birth and/or death records for research purposes
will need to make an appointment. They will need to provide the name on the
record as well as the date of birth or death. The staff in Vital Statistics
will NOT do any record searches without this information. Appointment times
will be available each Tuesday of the month from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm. There
will probably be no more than 2-3 people able to make an appointment each
week and the number of records a researcher will be allowed to view will be
limited. Please note that the registrar is interpreting the Public Records
Act (Ohio Revised Code, Section 149.43) in her own way.

If you would like more information regarding Ohio's Public Records Act
please contact me privately & I will forward an article written by Diane
Van Skiver Gagel, 1st Vice President of The Ohio Genealogical Society.


Karen S. Smith, President
Fairfield Co. Chapter OGS
PO Box 1470
Lancaster OH 43130-0570
www.fairfieldgenealogy.org

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• [OHFAIRFI-L] Major Changes to Ohio Vital Records Access by "Karen S. Smith" <>