**OFFICE 0~**  **THE ATTORNEY**  GENERAL **OF TzxAs**  **AUsTIN**

Dr. 680. y. CO% state &alth Offiber Auatiin, Texar

beea rsoeiyan~unreglrtereQ to thetheCountyJudge, Coun8pSudgr

fee's mentioned above ooaoliz4ed ln4r~Lble 3988and ire6 Btatutel of 19$6t

Thepertiaent paragraph of H.B. &of the Party-rlxth kgislature, inrolylng birthi anddeath@ 'not preolcn)sl~ registered* Is, oontalned~la Beat&on2 andreads as follows:Dr. Gee. W. **COX,** ~Page2

“Andprovided further, that any oltizen of the State of Texas wishing to file the reoord of any birth or death, not prevlouely regiatered, pm eub+altto 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. Whenthe affidavit of the medical attendant or undertaker oannot be eeoured, the oertlrioate ehall be eupported by the affidavit of someperson whowas aoqualnted with the faot8 surrounding the birth or death, at the time the birth or death oocured, with a seoond affidavit of 8omeperson whoia’ aoqualnted with the facts surrounding the birth or death, andwhole nob rel+ated to lhe+indlridual byblood or marriage. he Proba e ourt ad&z pmaire uch other Information m

8 or ge maybe deemedneoeeeary to eatabllsh the

Dof the indivi ‘t oert - floate. and the truthfuln%of zatatementi @de in that reoord. The

### Clerkofthe salQ C r 8 outa State Bureau of Vital Statlstio8 with an e from the court to the State RePlstrar that‘tu record be, or be not, aooeoted, phaState % - latrar Is authorized to aooept the oertlfioatz whenverified in the above manner, and shall Issue oertlfied ooplee ai euoh recorda as provided for in Seation 21 of this Act. Suohoertifled 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, andno 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

wardthe 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 

### notaocepted; TheState RIelstrer Is iuthor- && to aace& the oertlrloate whenverlfled in the above manner, * l l * (IJnderroorlng our81 Theabove quoted section Of2. B. 614 oreater a newmethod 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 anddeath not regietered In strlot oompllinoe with Seotlon 9 and 12 of Article 4477, %vleed Civil Statutes. Thenewmethod lnvolvee the lmrlng of erldenoe by the Probate Court anU.an order OSthe oourt oerltying or denying the rebord andlnstruotlng the State he letrar to accept or reJeot the record. In. opinion iio. O-1203 wehave ruled that the matter of delayed reglatratlon of birth6 anddeath6 be aooorded the etatue 

### anddlgnltrof a probate proceeding a,ndthat a record of the prooeedlngs be kept. In 

### viewofthe above 

### reasoningandprevious oplnIon6 of this department, lt~followe that the order of the Probate Judge aooompanylng the oertlrioate 

### ofbirth or death registration of wlrich has been delayed, haa Suufaud’olal foroe andIs binding upon the.State %gTheStatute reads that ‘Ithe State negirtrar 

### lo authorized to aooept the oertlfioate whenrerlfled In the above manner

### l &&. whenverlfled 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,, wereaoh 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 abirth or d.eath. other band, this does not meanthat the State Regletrar could not return a certifloate to ’the Probate court for Correction whenpatent errore or omissions, or inoonsistenoiea apvear on the face of the oertifLoateb

It le our opinion that the State Registrar IsDr.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 wheneald reoord on Its faoe Is teohnloall~ oorreot.

Your eeoolid question is anawered in oplnlone Nos. O-1060 andO-1203 of this department, in whloh we hold that the feee due the county (probate) Judge and oountg clerk are payable by those whoreceive the benefit of the.eervloee, i.e. the apolloante In reepeot to delayed registration ofibirths and deaths. It 1s true that the etatute (H.B. 614) doee not specify whoehall 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’rdeath 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 weheld that Artlolee 3925 and 3930, &vleed civil f)tatuter, ofthe General ?re~ Statutes, governed in the UaSeoUddlayed regletrtitlone 

### ofbirths anddeathe 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 ($.50) for the county olerk, wequoted in opinion O-1066 the following provision of Artiole 3930, %vleed Civil statutes:
“Each certificate to any faot or faote oontalned in the reoorde of his office, with oe?- tlfloate and seal, where not otherwiee provided for * * * fifty-oehte ($.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 100word8 * l l ten cents ($.lO).” it 1s ouropinion 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 anddeath oertlfloatee *not prevlouely registersa*, In acoordance vlth the terms o.f?I. B. 614 should be numberedand entered on the docket of the &obate Court Ind that *ll -prMeedlnga in aannectlon therewith should be entered In the minutes 

### ofthe 

### ProbatdCourt.



### We sugid the 

### r0u0mg entry for the mlnuter of the Probate4 ourt as ageneral form in the event ai the 

### grsqtlngaf,aaia above reg$atration:

: . c : “08 thle dar, cameon to be heard the appllca- : eLell~~O,i ( 4 a’eitizan of the Btatt of-%edas. to file the keoord of the birth (or : : 1 : : : t : : : : : : : : : : : 1 : Theoer.tlfloate~~of birth (0; &eath)(‘as tj maybe), having been substantiated by the aifldavlt of the ineaioal attendant, death) of
-’

. the eald birth :

lot havlrw been urevlously reqlstered. : hecase I

: 

### (ord&th)i

nresent at the time of the birth ior death). the . : : brfldavlt ot the physician, ,: laat in attendanoe upon the deoeaeed or the ualer- : taker , vha 6urle-4 the body. : 1 (The medical attendant or undertaker~not having : been aeoured): %e oertlfloate having beea : aubetantlatea by anafi”laarlt ai nperson who~~was aoqualnted with the faote.aurroundlng the birth ob : aeath, to-wit: ; whowas : :Dr. Qeo. W. Cox, Page 6

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: :

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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

__ _- . _ not related to the deceaeed or the Individual by : blood or marriage (or In the event the oourt seea : I : : : arf laavlt e or : as to the truth%- : nees of the etatembntr maaeIn the oertlfloete : andas to theoltltenahip of the oltlzen or lndlvl-: dual making the oertlflcate. : : 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

. : : ITIS, TEEZFORE,ORDEREDthat the Clerkof : the County Court of the County of Stateof Texas, forvard the oertlfloate to the ' ; State Bureau of Vital %atlstIcs, andlttq. here- : by ordered o? the State Beglatrar that the record : herein be aocepted. : : : CountyJuage : ! :. Trusting that the above ?ully anewemsthe tour Lnquiriea contained In your letter, weare Yours very truly APPROVE3 ATTORNEY OENESAL

OFTEXAS 3plnlon OoamIttee ByBWB 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 SanAntonio, Texas

0.0.

C.O. Hon. Leo. C. Buckley County Xttorney Zapata County Zapata, Texas Hr. Leon Kotosky ga;bXnt t TCounty Attorney

exam

AFFROVED

SEPT. 13, 19S9
(Signed> ATTORNEY GENERAL

OFTFXAS