Bill Text - HB1191 (2006)

Making technical corrections to the chapter governing vital records.

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Revision: Jan. 21, 2010, midnight

15Feb2006… 0424h

2006 SESSION

06-2339

05/09

HOUSE BILL 1191

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill makes technical corrections to the laws governing vital records, including correcting certain statutory cross-references, replacing a reference to the division of information technology with the office of information technology, and clarifying the department of state’s authority to issue burial permits.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

15Feb2006… 0424h

06-2339

05/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

141:1 Definition of Legal Representative; Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 5-C:1, XVII to read as follows:

XVII. “Legal representative” means an attorney, physician, funeral director or other representative, who through written authorization from the registrant is acting on behalf of the registrant or his or her family [pursuant to RSA 126:14, II].

141:2 Vital Records Advisory Committee; Reference Change. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 5-C:16, I to read as follows:

I. There is established an advisory committee to assist the secretary of state in administering the fund established under RSA 5-C:15. The advisory committee shall also determine the need for improvement and automation of the processing of vital records upon recommendations from representatives of the department, the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks’ Association, and the [division] office of information technology [management]. The members of the committee shall be appointed as follows:

141:3 Notice of Adoption; Reference Change. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 5-C:31 to read as follows:

5-C:31 Notice of Adoption. All information on an adoption shall be completed on a form prescribed by the division, in accordance with RSA [170-B:18, I] 170-B:22. A parent or the court shall provide the following information in order to complete the form:

141:4 Adoption Recording Procedures. Amend RSA 5-C:32, I and II to read as follows:

I. Adoptions shall be recorded pursuant to this section and RSA [170-B:18] 170-B:22.

II. In accordance with the reporting requirements cited in RSA [170-B:18] 170-B:22, the register of the county probate court shall send a completed adoption form, as referenced in RSA 5-C:31, for each child adopted in the state of New Hampshire to the division within 7 days after the final decree is filed.

141:5 Procedure for Amending Birth Record Following Adoption; Reference Change. Amend RSA 5-C:33, III to read as follows:

III. The original birth record and the notice of adoption shall not be subject to inspection except pursuant to RSA 5-C:9 or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to RSA [170-B:19] 170-B:23.

141:6 Procedure for Amending Birth Record Following Adoption; Reference Change. Amend RSA 5-C:33, XII to read as follows:

XII. Upon receipt of a report of decree of annulment of adoption, the clerk of the town or city of birth occurrence shall replace the amended birth record with the original. The previous amended birth record and evidence shall not be subject to inspection except upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to RSA [170-B:19] 170-B:23.

141:7 Application for Certificate of Foreign Birth; Reference Change. Amend RSA 5-C:34, I to read as follows:

I. The registrar shall establish a New Hampshire certificate of foreign birth for a person born in a foreign country and for whom a final decree of adoption has been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction in New Hampshire. This certificate of foreign birth shall be established and registered and a certified copy of such certificate issued when the registrar receives a request and a fee of $25 from the adoptive parents or adopted person over 18 years of age for such a certificate and a report of the adoption as provided in RSA [170-C:18] 170-B:22. Funds paid to the registrar shall be forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit into the vital records improvement fund established under RSA 5-C:15.

141:8 Application for Certificate of Foreign Birth; Reference Change. Amend RSA 5-C:34, III(a) to read as follows:

(a) A report of adoption as required by RSA [170-B:18] 170-B:22.

141:9 Certificate of Foreign Birth; Reference Change. Amend RSA 5-C:35, VI to read as follows:

VI. Any birth certificate established under this section shall not be deemed a record within the meaning of RSA [170-B:19] 170-B:23, II.

141:10 Officiant Responsibilities; Reference Change. Amend RSA 5-C:49, I to read as follows:

I. The person who performs a marriage shall certify the fact of marriage and within 6 days return the record by mail or in person to the clerk of the town or city of license issuance [in accordance with RSA 126:8].

141:11 Initiation of the Death Record; Technical Correction. Amend RSA 5-C:63, VIII to read as follows:

VIII. The reverse side of the death certificate shall contain a notice to the physician regarding the release of a body in accordance with [New Hampshire statute] RSA 290:2-a, the necessity of a pronouncement in accordance with RSA 290:1-b and indication of who can provide alternate signatures in the absence of the attending physician, in accordance with RSA 290:1-b. The reverse side of the certificate shall also contain a reference to those categories of death that fall under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner as specified in RSA 611:4.

141:12 Burial Permit Required from Department of State. Amend RSA 290:5 to read as follows:

290:5 Burial Permit Required. No interment of the dead body of a human being, nor disposition of the body in a tomb or vault, shall be made without a permit, and only in accordance with it. No disinterment, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, of the dead body of a human being shall be made without a permit from the department of [health and human services] state, countersigned by the local health officer, and only in accordance with such permit. Before a disinterment permit is granted, the surviving spouse, parents, and children, who are 18 years of age or older, of the deceased human being shall be given written notice by certified mail of the disinterment request and shall be afforded 10 days from the written notice to object to the disinterment before the permit is issued. Such disinterment permit shall not be required for removal of such dead body from a tomb or vault for the purpose of burial, for reinterment of dead bodies after discontinuance of a public cemetery, as provided in RSA 289:15 and 289:16, if a body is to be removed within the geographic boundaries of the same cemetery, nor in a case where an autopsy has been ordered by a county attorney or the attorney general. No person shall assist in, assent to, or allow an interment or disinterment to be made until a permit has been obtained under this section. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

141:13 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Approved: May 22, 2006

Effective: July 21, 2006