By: Zerwas (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 3253
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2013;
April 30, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
and Human Services; May 13, 2013, reported adversely, with
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7,
Nays 0; May 13, 2013, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3253 By: Nelson
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the notation of death on a birth certificate and the
release of birth certificate information for certain purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 191.034, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 191.034. NOTATION OF DEATH ON BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a)
On receipt of the death certificate of a person [younger than 55
years of age] whose birth is registered in this state, the state
registrar shall conspicuously note the person's date of death [make
a conspicuous notation] on the person's [decedent's] birth
certificate [that the person is dead].
(b) The state registrar shall notify [provide
computer-generated abstracts, transcripts, or copies of the death
certificate to] the county clerk of the county in which the person
[decedent] was born and [to] the local registrar of the
registration district in which the person [decedent] was born of
the person's death. On receipt of the notification of death, the
county clerk or local registrar shall conspicuously note the
person's date of death [make a conspicuous notation] on the person's
[decedent's] birth certificate [that the person is dead].
SECTION 2. Section 192.002(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The section of the birth certificate entitled "For
Medical and Health Use Only" is not part of the legal birth
certificate. Information held by the department under that section
of the certificate is confidential. That information may not be
released or made public on subpoena or otherwise, except that
release may be made for statistical purposes only so that no person,
patient, or facility is identified, or to medical personnel of a
health care entity, as that term is defined in Subtitle B, Title 3,
Occupations Code, or to a faculty member at a medical school, as
that term is defined in Section 61.501, Education Code, for
statistical or medical research, or to appropriate state or federal
agencies for statistical research. The board may adopt rules to
implement this subsection.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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