OFFICE 0~ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TzxAs 

AUsTIN 

Dr. 680. y. CO% 

state &alth Offiber 

Auatiin, Texar 

beea rsoeiyan~unreglrtereQ 

to 

the 

the County Judge, 

Coun8p Sudgr 

fee's mentioned above ooaoliz4ed ln4r~Lble 3988 and 

ire6 Btatutel of 19$6t 

The pertiaent paragraph of H.B. &of the 

Party-rlxth kgislature, inrolylng birthi and death@ 

'not preolcn)sl~ registered* Is, oontalned~la Beat&on 2 

and reads as follows: 
Dr. Gee. W. COX, ~Page 2 

“And provided further, that any oltizen 

of the State of Texas wishing to file the reoord of any birth or death, not prevlouely regiatered, pm eub+alt to the Probate court In th& 

gountr where the birth or death oocurea a 

reoord of that birth or death written & the 

adopted forms of birt&.and death oertlfioatee. 

The oertltloate shall be subetantlated by the 

affldavlt of the medical attendant present at 

the time of the birth, or in oaee of death, 

the,affldavit of the pbJnlc$an last in attendance upon the deoeased, or the undertaker who 

burled the body. When the affidavit of the 

medical attendant or undertaker oannot be eeoured, the oertlrioate ehall be eupported by the 

affidavit of some person who was aoqualnted 

with the faot8 surrounding the birth or death, 

at the time the birth or death oocured, with 

a seoond affidavit of 8ome person who ia’ aoqualnted with the facts surrounding the birth 

or death, and who le nob rel+ated to lhe+indlridual by blood or marriage. he Proba e ourt 

ad&z pmaire 8 uch other Information or m 

ge may be deemed neoeeeary to eatabllsh the 

D of the indivi ‘t oert - 

floate. and the truthfuln%of zatatementi 

@de in that reoord. The Clerk of the salQ 

C outa r 8 

State Bureau of Vital Statlstio8 with an e 

from the court to the State RePlstrar that‘tu 

record be, or be not, aooeoted, pha State % - 

latrar Is authorized to aooept the oertlfioatz 

when verified in the above manner, and shall 

Issue oertlfied ooplee ai euoh recorda as provided for in Seation 21 of this Act. Suoh oertifled ooplea shall be prima facie evidenoe ln 

all Court&and laces of the facts stated thereon. The State Ii ureau of Vital Statistics shall 

turniah the forms upon whioh such reoorde are 

filed, and no other lorm i&all be ueed for that 

purpoee. * (gnderecoring oura). 

Partioular attention Is oalled to the follow- 

‘The olerk of the said Court &all for- 
,314 

Dr. Gee. W. Cox, Page 3 

ward the certificate to the State Bureau of VI-. 

tal Statistice with an order from the Court to 

the State Registrar that the record be. or be 

not aocepted; The State RIelstrer Is iuthor- 

&& to aace& the oertlrloate when verlfled 

in the above manner, * l l * (IJnderroor lng o ur 81 

The above quoted section Of 2. B. 614 oreater a 

new method for. the registration of births and Qdaths 

‘not previously registered*, In opinion Ho. O-1201 

thlr department has held the phrase “not preriouely 

reglatered* applloable to all reoor5LI and oertifloatee 

of birth and death not regietered In strlot oompllinoe 

with Seotlon 9 and 12 of Article 4477, %vleed Civil 

Statutes. The new method lnvolvee the lmrlng of erldenoe by the Probate Court anU.an order OS the oourt 

oerltying or denying the rebord and lnstruotlng the 

State he letrar to accept or reJeot the record. In. 

opinion ii o. O-1203 we have ruled that the matter of delayed reglatratlon of birth6 and death6 be aooorded 

the etatue and dlgnltr of a probate proceeding a,nd that 

a record of the prooeedlngs be kept. 

In view of the above reasoning and previous oplnIon6 of this department, lt~ followe that the order of 

the Probate Judge aooompanylng the oertlrioate of birth 

or death registration of wlrich has been delayed, haa 

Suufaud’olal foroe and Is binding upon the.State %gThe Statute reads that ‘Ithe State negirtrar lo 

authorized to aooept the oertlfioate when rerlfled In 

the above manner l &&. when verlfled by court order. 

At the time the ceglrlature conferred the authorltl to accept the oertltloate upon the State %glstrar, 

In our opinion It lmpliedly subJeote6 the State R,eglstrar to the Judgment of the court In reepeot to the valldlty of the record. Gonsequeritlr,, we reaoh the oonelusion that the order would be binding upon the State 

Registrar. He 00uia not ref’uee to accept a ce;F:$ate 

of delayed regletratlon of a birth or d.eath. 

other band, this does not mean that the State Regletrar 

could not return a certifloate to’the Probate court for 

Correction when patent errore or omissions, or inoonsistenoiea apvear on the face of the oertifLoateb 

It le our opinion that the State Registrar Is 
Dr. Gee. W. Cox, Page 4 

not authorlzed under any oonaltlone to refuse to file 

a record of a birth or death not previously re letered 

which has been approved by the county (probate f Judge 

when eald reoord on Its faoe Is teohnloall~ oorreot. 

Your eeoolid question is anawered in oplnlone 

Nos. O-1060 and O-1203 of this department, in whloh we 

hold that the feee due the county (probate) Judge and 

oountg clerk are payable by those who receive the benefit of the. eervloee, i.e. the apolloante In reepeot to 

delayed registration ofi births and deaths. It 1s true 

that the etatute (H.B. 614) doee not specify who ehall 

bear the burden of paying the fees involved in the 

preoeedlnge, but it le our oplnlon that the cltlren 

apclylng for the delayed registration of birth o’r death 

must pay the fees of the:oounty (probate) Judge an+ 

oounty olerk. 

.Your third queetlon Is treated in our opinion 

No. 0-1066 In that opinion we held that Artlolee 3925 

and 3930, &vleed civil f)tatuter, of the General ?re~ 

Statutes, governed in the UaSe oU ddlayed regletrtitlone 

of births and deathe under H.B. 614, and that the oounty Judge and oounty olerk shell eaoh reoeive the fee 

of fifty-aente (#.SO) in return for their re~peotlve 

servicer of entering the order and oertlfylng the 6-e 

to the bureau of Vital 8tatletlce, : 

In respect to the fee of fifty-oente ($.50) for 

the county olerk, we quoted in opinion O-1066 the following provision of Artiole 3930, %vleed Civil statutes: 

“Each certificate to any faot or faote oontalned in the reoorde of his office, with oe?- 

tlfloate and seal, where not otherwiee provided 

for * * * fifty-oehte ($.60).a 

The oounty olerk under said provision would be 

entitled to fifty-oente (#.50) for forwarding the aertlfloate to the State Bureau of Vital 2tatletloe wlth 

an order from the Court. 

It la our further opinion that the following 

provision of Artlole 3330, Rei~leea Civil Statutes, 
v0ula also apply: 

*Recording all papers required or permitted 

by law to.be recorded, not otherwise provided 

for, lncludlng certlfioate ana seal, for eaoh 

100 word8 * l l ten cents ($.lO).” 

it 1s our opinion that the oounty olerk 1s also 

entitled to hla recoralng fee m~U@d for in the above 

provlelon Artlole 3930, +erleed Civil statutes. 

Your fourth a& final queetlon 1s fully answer-, 

ea In opinion No. O-1201 In whlah thle department ruled 

that applications for registration of birth and death 

oertlfloatee *not prevlouely registersa*, In acoordance 

vlth the terms o.f ?I. B. 614 should be numbered and entered on the docket of the &obate Court Ind that *ll 

-prMeedlnga in aannectlon therewith should be entered 

In the minutes of the Probatd Court. 

We sug id the r0u0mg entry for the mlnuter 

of the Probate 4 ourt as a general form in the event ai 

the grsqtlng af,aaia above reg$atration: 

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: “08 thle dar, came on to be heard the appllca- : 

eLell~~O,i ( 4 a’eitizan of the 

Btatt of-%edas. to file the keoord of the birth (or 

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The oer.tlfloate~~of birth (0; &eath)(‘as tj 

may be), having been substantiated by the aifldavlt 

of the ineaioal attendant, 

death) of -’ . the eald birth : 

lot havlrw been urevlously reqlstered. : 

he case I 

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(or d&th)i 

nresent at the time of the birth ior death). the . : 

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brfldavlt ot the physician, ,: 

laat in attendanoe upon the deoeaeed or the ualer- : 

taker , vha 6urle-4 the body. : 

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(The medical attendant or undertaker~not having : 

been aeoured): %e oertlfloate having beea : 

aubetantlatea by an afi”laarlt ai n person who~~was 

aoqualnted with the faote.aurroundlng the birth ob : 

aeath, to-wit: ; who was : 

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?It to require iurther ln?oromtlon or eridenoe ae 

to the oltitenehip of the applloant or InOlvldual 

raking the aertlfloate), and esld oertliloate being MeF eubetantlated by ?urther etldenoe and 

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not related to the deceaeed or the Individual by : 

blood or marriage (or In the event the oourt seea : 

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arf laavlt e or : 

as to the truth%- : 

nees of the etatembntr maae In the oertlfloete : 

and as to the oltltenahip of the oltlzen or lndlvl-: 

dual making the oertlflcate. : 

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It appearing to the oourt that the birth of : 

oocurea In the County o? : 

State of Texas on the : 

say of A.D. i9 (or In oaee o?- : 

death), It appe:rIng to the oou!t that the death : 

Of ooourea In the Bounty of : 

, State of Texas, on the : 

day of , A.D. 19 . : 

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IT IS, TEEZFORE, ORDERED that the Clerk of : 

the County Court of the County of 

State of Texas, forvard the oertlfloate to the ' ; 

State Bureau of Vital %atlstIcs, and lttq. here- : 

by ordered o? the State Beglatrar that the record : 

herein be aocepted. : 

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County Juage : 

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Trusting that the above ?ully anewems the tour 

Lnquiriea contained In your letter, we are 

Yours very truly 

APPROVE3 ATTORNEY OENESAL OF TEXAS 

3plnlon OoamIttee 

By BWB 

Chairman 

By (BIgned Disk 8tout 

Dick Btout 

DS:ob 

ENCLS. (3 oplnlons 

AecJstant 

O-1066, o-12Ol,O-12303) 
Dr. ho. W. Cox, Page 7 

0.0.: Hon. John R. Shook 

Criminal District Attorney 

San Antonio, Texas 

0.0. 

C.O. 

Hon. Leo. C. Buckley 

County Xttorney 

Zapata County 

Zapata, Texas 

Hr. Leon Kotosky 

ga;bXnt 

t T 

County Attorney 

exam 

AFFROVED SEPT. 13, 19S9 

(Signed> 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TFXAS