HOUSE BILL 179

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

D. Wonda Johnson

AN ACT

RELATING TO VITAL RECORDS; ELIMINATING FEES FOR CERTIFIED BIRTH CERTIFICATES FOR HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS; ELIMINATING RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS TO VITAL RECORDS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN OR YOUTH AND UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 24-14-28 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1961, Chapter 44, Section 26, as amended) is amended to read:

     "24-14-28. COPIES OR DATA FROM THE SYSTEM OF VITAL STATISTICS.--

          A. In accordance with the Vital Statistics Act and the regulations adopted pursuant to that act:

                [A.] (1) the state registrar shall, upon receipt of a written application, issue a certified copy of any certificate or record in [his] the state registrar's custody to anyone demonstrating a tangible and direct interest, except that:

                     [(1)] (a) certified copies of birth records shall exclude all medical information unless a complete certificate is specifically requested and the request for a complete certificate is approved by the state registrar; and

                     [(2)] (b) issuance of copies of birth records shall be subject to the provisions of the Missing Child Reporting Act;

                [B.] (2) a certified copy of a certificate or any part thereof, including records reproduced from paper documents or photographic, magnetic or electronic files, shall be considered for all purposes the same as the original and is prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated; provided that the evidentiary value of a certificate or record filed more than one year after the event or a record [which] that has been amended shall be determined by the judicial or administrative body or official before whom the certificate is offered as evidence;

                [C.] (3) the agency of the United States government responsible for national vital statistics may be furnished copies or data as it may require for national statistics, upon the condition that the data shall not be used for other than statistical purposes unless so authorized by the state registrar;

                [D.] (4) at the discretion of the state registrar, federal, state, local and other public or private agencies may upon request be furnished copies or data for statistical or administrative purposes upon the conditions as may be prescribed by the department;

                [E.] (5) no person shall prepare or issue any report of an induced abortion or any certificate [which] that purports to be an original, certified copy or copy of a certificate of birth, death or spontaneous fetal death or reproduction of a certified copy except as authorized in the Vital Statistics Act or regulations adopted pursuant to that act; [and

                F.] (6) the state registrar may, by written agreement, transmit copies of records and other reports required by the Vital Statistics Act to offices of vital statistics outside this state when the records or other reports relate to residents of those jurisdictions or persons born outside those jurisdictions. The agreement shall require that the copies be used for statistical purposes only and shall provide for the retention and disposition of copies. Copies received by the state registrar from offices of vital statistics in other states shall be handled in the manner prescribed in this section; and

                (7) the state registrar shall, upon receipt of a written application from an unaccompanied youth, issue a certified copy of that youth's birth record to the youth, without requiring a signature of an adult.

          B. A local education agency homeless liaison, a school counselor and a school nurse each have a tangible and direct interest pursuant to Subsection A of this section in a certified copy of the birth record of a homeless child or youth who is enrolled in the local education agency and in a certified copy of the birth record of a younger sibling of a homeless child or youth who is enrolled in the local education agency.

          C. A social worker in this state has a tangible and direct interest pursuant to Subsection A of this section in a:

                (1) certified copy of the birth record of a homeless child or youth who is a client of the social worker; and

                (2) certified copy of the birth record of a younger sibling of a homeless child or youth who is a client of the social worker.

          D. For the purposes of this section:

                (1) "homeless child or youth" means an individual who is twenty-five years of age or younger and lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including an individual who:

                     (a) lives in the housing of another person due to that individual's loss of housing, economic hardship or other reason related to that individual's lack of a fixed residence;

                     (b) lives in a motel, hotel, trailer park or camping ground due to that individual's lack of alternative adequate accommodations;

                     (c) lives in an emergency or transitional shelter;

                     (d) sleeps in a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; or

                     (e) lives in an automobile, a park, a public space, an abandoned building, substandard housing, a bus station, a train station or a similar setting; and

                (2) "unaccompanied youth" means an individual who is twenty-five years of age or younger, is not in the physical custody of a parent or legal guardian and lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including an individual who:

                     (a) lives in the housing of another person due to that individual's loss of housing, economic hardship or other reason related to that individual's lack of a fixed residence;

                     (b) lives in a motel, hotel, trailer park or camping ground due to that individual's lack of a fixed residence;

                     (c) lives in an emergency or transitional shelter;

                     (d) sleeps in a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; or

                     (e) lives in an automobile, a park, a public space, an abandoned building, substandard housing, a bus station, a train station or a similar setting."

     SECTION 2. Section 24-14-29 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1961, Chapter 44, Section 27, as amended) is amended to read:

     "24-14-29. FEES FOR COPIES AND SEARCHES.--

          A. The fee for each search of a vital record to produce a certified copy of a birth certificate shall be ten dollars ($10.00) and shall include one certified copy of the record, if available. A fee shall not be charged for a certified copy of a birth certificate of a homeless individual.

          B. The fee for the establishment of a delayed record or for the revision or amendment of a vital record, as a result of an adoption, a legitimation, a correction or other court-ordered change to a vital record, shall be ten dollars ($10.00). The fee shall include one certified copy of the delayed record.

          C. The fee for each search of a vital record to produce a copy of a report of spontaneous fetal death or a certificate of still birth shall be five dollars ($5.00) and shall include one certified copy of the record of fetal death, if available.

          D. The fee for each search of a vital record to produce a certified copy of a death certificate shall be five dollars ($5.00) and shall include one certified copy of the record, if available.

          E. Revenue from the fees imposed in this section shall be distributed as follows:

                (1) an amount equal to three-fifths of the revenue from the fee imposed by Subsection A of this section, an amount equal to one-half of the revenue from the fee imposed by Subsection B of this section and an amount equal to one-fifth of the revenue from the fee imposed by Subsection D of this section shall be distributed to the day-care fund; and

                (2) the remainder of the revenue from the fees imposed by Subsections A, B, C and D of this section shall be deposited in the state general fund.

          F. For the purposes of this section, "homeless individual" means an individual:

                (1) who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including an individual who:

                     (a) lives in the housing of another person due to that individual's loss of housing, economic hardship or other reason related to that individual's lack of a fixed residence;

                     (b) lives in a motel, hotel, trailer park or camping ground due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;

                     (c) lives in an emergency or transitional shelter;

                     (d) sleeps in a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; or

                     (e) lives in an automobile, a park, a public space, an abandoned building, substandard housing, a bus station, a train station or a similar setting; and

                (2) whose homelessness can be verified through an attestation, which shall not be required to be notarized, by one of the following:

                     (a) a public or private governmental or nonprofit agency that provides services to homeless individuals;

                     (b) a local education agency homeless liaison, school counselor or school nurse;

                     (c) a social worker licensed in this state; or

                     (d) the homeless individual."

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