An Act
ENROLLED SENATE
BILL NO. 208 By: Garvin of the Senate
and
Moore of the House
An Act relating to vital statistics; amending 63 O.S.
2011, Section 1-311, which relates to birth
certificates; modifying cert ain conditions; amending
63 O.S. 2011, Section 1-311.2, which relates to
provision of documentation to the Department of Human
Services; modifying requirements related to provision
of certain documents and informatio n; prohibiting
certain release of information, data or records and
requiring certain protection; directing certain data
sharing agreement; amending 63 O.S. 2011, Section 1 -
321, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 96, O .S.L. 2019
(63 O.S. Supp. 2020, Section 1 -321), which relates to
amendment of certificate or record; requiring ce rtain
amendments under certain conditions; amending 63 O.S.
2011, Section 1-323, as last amended by Section 1,
Chapter 108, O.S.L. 2019 (63 O.S . Supp. 2020, Section
1-323), which relates to confidentiality of vital
statistics records; adding exception; upd ating and
clarifying terms; and providing an effective date .
SUBJECT: Vital statistics
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2011, Section 1-311, is
amended to read as follows:
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Section 1-311. A. A certificate of birth for each live birth
which occurs in this state shall be fil ed with the State Registrar,
within seven (7) days after the birth.
B. When a birth occurs in an inst itution, the person in charge
of the institution or a designated representative shall obtain the
personal data, prepare the certificate, and secure the si gnatures
required by the certificate. The physician in attendance shall
certify to the facts of birth and provide the medical information
required by the certificate within five (5) days after the birth.
C. When a birth occurs outside an institution, the certificate
shall be prepared and filed by one of the following in the indicated
order of priority:
1. The physician in attendance at or imm ediately after the
birth;
2. Any other person in attendance at or immediately after the
birth; or
3. The father, the mother, or, in the absence or inability of
the father or mother, the person in charge of the prem ises where the
birth occurred and presen t at the birth.
D. 1. If the mother was married at the time of conception and
birth, or married at any time duri ng the three hundred (300)
calendar days before the birth , the name of the husband shall be
entered on the certificate as the father of the ch ild unless
paternity has been determined otherwise by a court of competent
jurisdiction or a husband ’s denial of paternity form has been filed
along with an affidavit acknowledging paternity, in which case the
name of the father as determined by the court or affidavit
acknowledging paternity shall be entered.
2. If the mother was not married at the time of conception and
birth, nor married at any time during the three hundred (300)
calendar days before the birth , the name of the father shall be
entered on the certificate of birth only if:
a. a determination of paternity has been made by an
administrative action throug h the Department of Human
ENR. S. B. NO. 208 Page 3
Services or a court of competent jurisdiction, in
which case the name of the father shall be entered, or
b. the mother and father have signed an affidavit
acknowledging acknowledgement of paternity pursuant to
Section 1-311.3 of this title, or substantially
similar affidavit from another state and filed it with
the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
E. Either of the parents of the child shall sign the
certificate of live birth worksheet to attest to the accuracy of the
personal data entered thereon, in time to permit its filing within
the seven (7) days prescribed in this sectio n.
F. If the live birth results from a process in which the
delivering mother was carrying the child of another woman by way of
a prearranged legal contr act, the original birth certificate shal l
be filed with the personal information of the woman who deli vered
the child. A new birth certificat e will be placed on file once th e
State Registrar receives both a court order and a completed form
prescribed by the State Registrar which identifies the various
parties and documents the personal information of the intended
parents necessary to complete t he new birth certificate.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2011, Section 1 -311.2, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1-311.2. The State Registrar of Vital Statisti cs shall
provide to the Department of Human Services the verifica tions of
birth certificates, aff idavits acknowledging paternity and such
other documents or information necessary to comply with this act
The State Commissioner of Health shall authorize the secure
electronic transmission of any birth, death, paternity or adoption
data and such other documents or information necessary to comply
with the Uniform Parentage Act or for the purpose of assisting with
programs administered by the Department of Human Services. The
Department of Human Services shall not release inf ormation, data or
records received from the State Department of Health for these
purposes in response to an Open Records Act req uest and shall
protect the integrity of the vital records data to the extent
required of the State Department of Health by Secti on 1-323 of this
ENR. S. B. NO. 208 Page 4
title. The State Department of Health and the Department of Human
Services shall enter into a data sharing agreement for the purpose
of implementing the provisions of this s ection.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2 011, Section 1-321, as
amended by Section 1, Chapter 96, O.S.L. 2019 (63 O.S. Supp. 2020,
Section 1-321), is amended to read as follows :
Section 1-321. (a) A. A certificate or record registered under
this article may be amended only in accordance with th is article and
regulations thereunder adopted by the State Board Commissioner of
Health to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital statistics
records.
(b) B. A certificate that is amended under this section sha ll
be marked “amended”, except as provided in subsection (d) of this
section. The date of amendment and a summary description o f the
evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on
or made a part of the record. The Board Commissioner shall
prescribe by regulation the conditi ons under which additions or
minor corrections shall be made to birth certificates with in one (1)
year after the date of birth without t he certificate being
considered as amended.
(c) C. Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order, from
a court of competent jurisdiction, changing the name of a person
born in this state and upon reques t of such person or his parent,
guardian, or legal r epresentative, the State Commissioner of Health
shall amend the certificate of birth to reflect the new name.
(d) D. When a child is born out of wed lock, the Commissioner
shall amend a certificate of bir th to show paternity , if paternity
is not currently sho wn on the birth certificate, in the following
situations:
(1) 1. Upon request and receipt of a sworn acknowledgme nt of
paternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents; or
(2) 2. Upon receipt of a certifi ed copy of a court order
establishing adjudicating paternity; or
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3. Upon receipt of an electronic record fr om the Department of
Human Services indicating that an acknow ledgement of paternity has
been signed by both parents or a court order adjudicating paternity.
(e) E. For a child born out of wedlock, the Commissioner shall
also change the surname of the chil d on the certificate:
(1) 1. To the specified surname upon receipt of ac knowledgment
of paternity signed by both parents or, upon receipt of a certified
copy of a court order d irecting such name be changed or upon receipt
of an electronic record from the Department of Human Services
indicating that an acknowledgement of paternity has been signed by
both parents or a court order directs such name change. Such
certificate amended pursuant to this subsection sha ll not be marked
“amended”; or
(2) 2. To the surname of the mother on the birth ce rtificate in
the event the acknowledg ment of paternity is rescinded.
(f) F. The State Board of Health Commissioner shall have the
power and duty to promulgate rules for sit uations in which the State
Registrar of Vital S tatistics receives false informatio n regarding
the identity of a parent.
(g) G. If within sixty (60) days of the initial issuance of a
certificate of death, a funeral director, or a person acting as
such, requests a correction to any portion of the death record
except the information rela ting to the medical certification
portion, due to a scrivener’s error, misspelling or ot her correction
of information, the Commissioner of Health, through the State
Registrar of Vital Statistics, shall amend the record, pr ovided said
request is made in wri ting or through an electronic system an d is
accompanied by documentation disclosing the correct information or
by a sworn statement of the funeral director. The funeral direc tor,
or person acting as such, shall be respons ible for any and all
amendment fees that may be imposed by the Commission er of Health for
said correction. Up to ten cert ified copies containing the
erroneous original information may be exchanged for certifi ed copies
containing the corrected information at no additional cost.
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SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2011, Section 1-323, as
last amended by Section 1, Chapter 108, O.S.L. 2019 (63 O.S. Supp.
2020, Section 1-323), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1-323. A. To protect the integrity of vital statistics
records, to ensure their proper use, and to ensure the efficient and
proper administration of the vital statistics syste m, it shall be
unlawful for any person to permit inspection of, or to disclose
information contained in, vital statistics records, or to copy or
issue a copy of all or part of a ny such record except to:
1. The person who is the subject of the record;
2. A parent named on the record or a person acting with the
parent’s permission unless that parent is curre ntly incarcerated;
3. Someone acting with permission of the person who i s the
subject of the record;
4. Someone acting as a legal representative of th e estate of
the person who is the subject of the record;
5. Someone acting as a legal representative of a person
involved in a probate of the estate of the person who is the su bject
of the record, as demonstrated by aff idavit;
6. An attorney licensed to practice in the United States who
demonstrates by affidavit that the record is necessary in order to
administer a client’s estate;
7. Someone in receipt of a court order from a court of
competent jurisdiction ordering a ccess to the record;
8. The Attorney General or to any district attorney upon
request in the course of a criminal investigation;
9. Only in the case of a death c ertificate, a funeral director;
10. A representative of the Department of Corrections, when the
subject of the record is under s upervision of the Department of
Corrections; or
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11. A representative of the Department of Human Service s acting
in accordance with Section 1-311.2 of this title; or
12. Any other person working in the best interest of the
subject of the record, as determined by regulations of the State
Board Commissioner of Health.
Provided, that death certificates shall b e considered publicly
available records fifty (50) years after the death and birth
certificates shall be considered publicly available records one
hundred twenty-five (125) years after the birth.
B. The State Department of Health shall, by July 1, 2017, m ake
available an online public index that includes, as is applicable,
the name, gender, date of birth, date of death , county of birth, and
county of death of all persons in its records. Birth data shall not
be added to the index until twenty (20) years af ter the birth.
Death data shall not be added to the index until five (5) years
after the death. The index shall be made available online at no
cost to users.
Private entities may request assistance from the Department in
receiving digital files including all or part of the index described
in this subsection. Such private ent ities may be assessed a fee
that shall not exceed the cost of creating and transmitting the
digital file. The Board Commissioner may promulgate rules regarding
access to such digital files and applicable fees.
C. The Department may grant applications for electronic
verification of the existence o f birth and death certificates for
legal and administrative purposes at any time following the birth or
death when such applications are mad e by:
1. A government agency in co nduct of its official business;
2. A benefit-paying party, including but not lim ited to an
annuity company, pension plan or life insurance company in order to
determine benefit status;
3. A physician licensed to practic e in the United States to
determine if a patient has been lost to care; o r
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4. Other entities for fraud protection, subject to verification
of the entity’s purpose by the Department.
The recipient of a record verification as provided for in this
subsection may not disclose to a party not in volved in the issue for
which the verification was sought.
The Department of Health may charge up to Four Dollars ($4.00)
for each electronic birth or death verification, although such fee
may be waived when such request is received by an Oklahoma state or
local government agency. The recipie nt of a record verification as
provided for in this subsection may also be subject to fees levied
by a contractor retained by the Board Commissioner to provide such
service.
The Board Commissioner may promulgate rules necessary to
implement the provisions of this subsection.
D. The State Commissio ner of Health may authorize the
disclosure of data contained in vital statistics records for public
health surveillance or research purposes .
E. The State Department of Healt h shall transmit to the
Department of Public Safety:
1. At the end of each quart er year, a list of all registered
deaths which have occurred during such period of time. Upon receipt
of such list the Department of Public Safety shall use such list
solely to update Department of Public Safety records and to cancel
the driver license fo r those deceased individuals with a valid
Oklahoma driver license at the time of death;
2. At the end of each month, a report of all regist ered deaths
that resulted from a mo tor vehicle collision which hav e occurred
during such period of time. The report shall be used by the
Department solely for the purpose of statistical analysis and
reporting; and
3. Upon written request from the Departm ent, a death
certificate. The cert ificate shall be used solely by the Fatality
Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Ana lyst of the Oklahoma Highway
Safety Office to populate the federal FARS database.
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F. Each month, the Commissioner shall authorize the
transmission to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority of a certified
list of all registered deaths of residents of this stat e that have
occurred within the state for the immediately preceding month. The
Oklahoma Health Care Authority shall use the transmitted lis t to
ascertain the names of those i ndividuals participating in the state
Medicaid program who are deceased, and shal l thereafter terminate
such deceased person ’s enrollment in the state Medicaid program.
G. For the purpose of assisting in the location and recovery of
missing children, info rmation pertaining to birth cer tificates and
requests for copies of birth certifi cates shall be provided to the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation pursuant to the provisions of
Section 1-323.1 of this title and Sectio n 150.12A of Title 74 of the
Oklahoma Statutes.
H. The Commissioner shall authorize the transmission of death
certificates to the Department of Labor for the purpose of the
Department of Labor conducting a census of total occupational
injuries and illness es. The Department shall transmit to the
Department of Labor stat istics of fatal occupational injuries that
shall include the following:
1. Name of the deceased;
2. Date of death;
3. Sex;
4. Race;
5. Age;
6. Birth date;
7. Social Security num ber;
8. Whether an autopsy was conducted ;
9. Month of the accident; an d
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10. Whether decedent was of Hispanic origin.
I. The Department of Labor shall be required to protect the
integrity of the vital statistics records to the same extent
required of the Department pursuant to this section.
SECTION 5. This act shall become effective November 1, 2021.
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Passed the Senate the 1st day of March, 2021.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the 13th day of April, 2021.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this _______ _____________
day of _________________ __, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _____________________ ____________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
day of _________________ __, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this _______ ___
day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _______________________________ __