SENATE BILL 120

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Jacob R. Candelaria

AN ACT

RELATING TO VITAL STATISTICS; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE VITAL STATISTICS ACT TO PROVIDE FOR AMENDMENT OF SEX DESIGNATION ON VITAL RECORDS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 24-14-25 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1961, Chapter 44, Section 23, as amended) is amended to read:

     "24-14-25. CORRECTION AND AMENDMENT OF VITAL RECORDS.--

          A. A certificate or report registered under the Vital Statistics Act may be amended only in accordance with that act and regulations adopted by the department pursuant to that act to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital records and health statistics.

          B. Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order changing the name of a person born in this state and upon request of the person or the person's parent, guardian or legal representative, the state registrar shall amend the original certificate of birth to reflect the new name.

          C. Upon request and receipt of an [acknowledgement] acknowledgment of paternity signed under penalty of perjury by both parents of a child born to an unmarried mother or, in the case of a married mother, upon receipt of an acknowledgment of paternity signed under penalty of perjury by the mother and the non-husband and of a denial of paternity signed under penalty of perjury by the husband, the state registrar shall amend a certificate of birth to show the paternity if paternity is not shown on the birth certificate. The certificate of birth shall not be marked "amended".

          D. Upon receipt of the following, the certificate of birth of the individual shall be amended as prescribed by department rules; provided that the vital record shall not be marked "amended":

                (1) a [statement] form prescribed by the registrar indicating that, based on the provider's opinion and in accordance with contemporary professional standards, the individual's sex designation should be changed, signed under penalty of perjury by the person in charge of an institution or [from the attending physician indicating that the sex of an individual born in this state has been changed by surgical procedure, together with] a licensed medical or mental health care provider; and

                (2) if applicable, a certified copy of [an] a court order changing the name of the [person, the certificate of birth of the] individual [shall be amended as prescribed by regulation].

          E. When an applicant does not submit the minimum documentation required in the regulations for amending a vital record or when the state registrar has reasonable cause to question the validity or adequacy of the applicant's statements or statements made under penalty of perjury or the documentary evidence and if the deficiencies are not corrected, the state registrar shall not amend the vital records and shall advise the applicant of the reason for this action.

          F. A certificate or report that is amended under this section shall be marked "amended", except as otherwise provided in Subsection C of this section. The date of the amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on or made a part of the record. The department shall prescribe by regulation the conditions under which additions or minor corrections may be made to certificates or records within one year after the date of the event without the certificate or record being marked "amended"."

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