Hon. James M. Cotten OpinionNo. V-145.0 County Attorney Parker County Re: Duty of the County Weatherford,Texas Clerk to record deaths and births occurring in Parker County within orwithout the City of Dear Sir: Weatherford.

Yo'ur request for an opinion of this office reads in part as follows:

"Must the Co~unty

Clerk of Parker County,Texas file death certificates presented to him for filing by an undertaker..Also:

must he file birth and death certificatespresented ;tohim by a Justice of the Peace or the City Secretary of Weatherford.

"Weatherfordis an incorporated city of 10,500population. The City Secretary Is charged by ordinancewith the duty of maintaining true and accurate copies of each birth and death and stillbirth certificatepermanently filed in his office. There are six Justice Precincts In ParkerCounty outside of Weatherford. Normally no births occur In these precincts,but deaths do occur in these precincts."

Rule 42a, Article 4477,V.C.S., provides in part:

"Undertaker'scertificate.--Thatthe undertaker, or person acting as undertaker, shall file the certificateof deathwith the local registrar of the district inwhich the death occurred and obtain a burial or removal permit prior to any dispositionof the body;Hon. James M. Cotten, page 2 (v-1450)

provided that any personwho furnishes
a casket, coffin or box inwhich to bury the dead and who renders service like or similar to that usually rendered by an undertaker, shall for the p'urposes of this Act be deemed an undertaker. He shall obtain the req'uired personal and statisticalparticulars from the person best qualified to supply them, over the signatureand address of his informant. He shall then present the certificate to the attendingphysician, If any, or to the health officer, justiceof peace, or coroner,as directedby the local registrar, for the medical certificate of the cause of death and other partlcularsnecessary to complete the record,
as specified in Sections 7 and 8.

. . ."

Rule 40a,Article 4477,V.C.S., sets out the informationwhich is required to be contained in death certificates.

Rule 42a clearly requires the ,undertaker to file the certificate of deathwith the local registrar,in the district inwhich the death occurred. "Localregistrar," as provided inRule 36a, Article 4477,V.C.S., does not include the county clerk. Neither Article 4477 nor any other law requires the county clerk to file death certificatespresented to him by an undertaker. Prior to the passage of House Bill 243, Acts 52nd Leg., R.S, 1951, ch. 87, p. 145 (Article4477,V.C.S.), all local registrars (includingthose in citieshaving an ordinancerequiring that a true and correct copy of birth and death certificatebe permanently filed in the office of the city registrar)were required to deposit copies of each blrth, death, and stillbirth certificate, filedwith him, with the county clerk,who was required to record them.

However, House Bill 243, s'upra, amends, among others,Rules 36a and 53a of Article 4477, V.C.S.

Rule 36a now provides:

"For the purposes of this Act the State shall be divided into primary~registration.

Hon. James M. Cotten, page 3 (v-1450)

districtsas follows:

_ Each justiceof the

. peace precinctan5 each incorporatedtown of two tho,usand,

five hundred (2,500)or more population,according to the last United States Census, shall constitutea primary registration district,provided the State Board of Health may combine two (2) or more registration districts,or may divide a primaryregistrationdistrict into two (2)
or more parts, so as to facilitateregistration, and in the justiceof the peace precinct, the justiceof the peace shall be local registrar, and in cities of two thousand, five hundred (2,500)or more, according to the last United States Census, the city clerk or city secretary shall be the local registrar of births and deaths.

"It is hereby declared to be the duty of the justice of the peace in the justice of the peace precinct, and the city clerk
or city secretary in the city of two thousand, five hundred (2,5.OO) or more population to secure a complete record of each birth, death, and stillbirth that occurs within their respective jurisdictions."

Rule 53a now provides in part:

"Andprovided further, that the justice of the peace, city clerk or secretary,and the appointed local registrar shall submit to the commissionerscourt or county auditor,
as the case may be, a true and accurate copy of each birth, death, and stillbirth certificate filedwith him, and such copies shall bear his file date and signature and shall be deposited In the co,unty clerk's office, provided,however, that this provision shall not apply to cities having an ordinancerequiring that true and accurate copies of each birth, death, and stillbirth certificatebe permanently filed in the office of the city registrar. The county clerk shall be paid for indexingand preserving.suchrecords, such compensationas may be agreed-uponby the commissionerscourt." (Emphasisadded,)

It is seen from the above stat,utes thatHon. JamesM. Cotten, page 4 (V-1450)

the local registrar in a city having an ordinance requiring that a true and correct copy of each birth and death certificate filed In his office is not required to deposit a copy with the county clerk. Neither is the county clerk required to record such copies.

It is noted, however, that ,under R~ule53a all local registrars except those in citieshaving such an ordinanceare required to deposit a copy of each birth, death, and stillbirth filed with them in the county clerk's office, and the county clerk is to record the same.

In view of the foregoing, it is our opinion that the county clerk is req~uired to record all birth, death,,and stillbirthcertificates filed with him by the justicesof the peace of Parker Co,unty. However, the co,unty clerk Is not req,uired to file
or record birth or death certificatespresented to him by the city secretary of Weatherford.

SUMMARY

The county clerk of Parker County is req,uiredto record copies of all birth and death certificatesdepositedwith him by all justicesof the peace of the county. However,he is not required to file birth
or death certificatespresented to him by the city secretary of Weatherford, a city requiring the permanent filing of such certificateswith the city registrar. Neither is the county clerk required to file death certificatespresented to him b an undertaker, s.ince

Rule Ma, Article 1477, V.C.S,, requires that undertakersfile death certificateswith the localregistrars named in the statute.

APPROVED: Yours very truly,

J. C. Davis, Jr. PRICEDANIEL County Affairs Division Attorney General

E, Jacobson Reviewing Assistant

Charles D. Mathews First Assistant
BA:mh Assistant