House File 2548 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  COMMITTEE ON HUMAN
                                           RESOURCES

                                       (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2136)


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to public access to certain vital statistics
  2    records.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 6325HV 82
  5 rh/rj/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 144.43, Code 2007, is amended to read
  1  2 as follows:
  1  3    144.43  VITAL RECORDS CLOSED TO INSPECTION == EXCEPTIONS.
  1  4    1.  To Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, in
  1  5 order to protect the integrity of vital statistics records, to
  1  6 ensure their proper use, and to ensure the efficient and
  1  7 proper administration of the vital statistics system kept by
  1  8 the state registrar, access to vital statistics records kept
  1  9 by the state registrar shall be limited to the state registrar
  1 10 and the state registrar's employees, and then only for
  1 11 administrative purposes.  It shall be unlawful for the state
  1 12 registrar to permit inspection of, or to disclose information
  1 13 contained in vital statistics records, or to copy or permit to
  1 14 be copied all or part of any such record except as authorized
  1 15 by regulation rules.
  1 16    2.  However, the The following vital statistics records may
  1 17 be inspected and copied as of right under chapter 22 when they
  1 18 are in the custody of a county registrar or when they such
  1 19 records are either in the custody of the state archivist and
  1 20 are at least seventy=five years old or are in the custody of a
  1 21 county registrar:
  1 22    1.  a.  A record of birth.
  1 23    2.  b.  A record of marriage.
  1 24    3.  c.  A record of divorce, dissolution of marriage, or
  1 25 annulment of marriage.
  1 26    4.  d.  A record of death if that death was not a fetal
  1 27 death.
  1 28    3.  A public record shall not be withheld from the public
  1 29 because it the public record is combined with data processing
  1 30 software.  The state registrar shall not implement any
  1 31 electronic data processing system for the storage,
  1 32 manipulation, or retrieval of vital records that would impair
  1 33 a county registrar's ability to permit the examination of a
  1 34 public record and the copying of a public record, as
  1 35 established by rule.  If it is necessary to separate a public
  2  1 record from data processing software in order to permit the
  2  2 examination of the public record, the county registrar shall
  2  3 periodically generate a written log available for public
  2  4 inspection which contains the public record.
  2  5                           EXPLANATION
  2  6    This bill provides that certain vital statistics records,
  2  7 i.e., birth records, marriage records, divorce records,
  2  8 dissolution of marriage records, annulment of marriage
  2  9 records, and death records, except for fetal death records,
  2 10 may be inspected and copied pursuant to Iowa's open records
  2 11 law (Code chapter 22) when such records are either in the
  2 12 custody of the state archivist and are at least 75 years old
  2 13 or are in the custody of a county registrar (county recorder).
  2 14 LSB 6325HV 82
  2 15 rh/rj/5