THEATKTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

HonbPabl& W. A; Davis, State Registrar 

Texas State Bb&d of Health 

Austin 2, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0-6751"' . 

Re: Questions relative to operatloti 

under provisions of House Bill 

No. $15, enacted bg the 49th" 

Legislature as an amendmeht to 

subdivision 25 of Rule 47a of 

Article 4477, V.A.C.S. 

We are in receipt of your recent request for an 

oplnlofi of' this d,epartment on the above subject. 

tions are as follows: 

Your ques- 

"(1) Does this act (House Bill No. 415) apply 

to the County Clerk? If not, is the County CleFk 

authorized by law to issue such copies without a 

court order? 

"(2) Should the request for such a copy be 

submitted as a formal petitIon to the court? If 

so, what fees should be collected in connection 

wlth~ the consideration of the petition and the 

issuance of the order? 

“(3) May such a request be considered and order 

issued by a court not In sesslon? 

"(4) Does the term Ia court of competent jurisdiction' Include the District Court? 

“(5) Does 'a court of competent jurisdiction1 

have authority to issue an order applying to a 

certificate from a county other than that in which 

the court is located? 

“(6) May an llleg~timate person, his guardian, 

or his legal representative secure such a copy without a court order? 

his ~,7~al~y any other person than an Illegitimatti, 

, or legal representative secure such a 

copy? 
Honorable W.A. Davis - page 2 o-6751 

"(8) What procedure must the mother of an illegltimate adopt in order to secure a copy of her child’s 

birth certificate?” 

The pertinent part ‘of the statute involved, before 

Its recent amendment, appeared as follows: 

Art. 4477, V.A.C.S.T. 

--P.- * - 

“(25)ana provided that the name 

of the fa her or any Fnformatlon by whtch he might be 

identified, shall not beg written into the birth or 

death certificate of any illegitimate child, and 

provided further, that any statem’ent the father bf 

hn llltigitimate child wishes to make as to its parentage, -Y, when placed in the form of an Fifflaavit, 

be attached to the original birth record. Neither 

the State Registrar nor any local Registrar shall 

issue a certified copy of any birth or death certificate wherein a child OP an adult is stated to be 

Fllegitlmate, unless such certFfied copy is ordered 

by a court of competent jurisalction.” 

The 49th Legislature amended said subalvision (25) of 

Rule 47a of Article 4477, V.A.C.S,T,, supra, by the enactment 

of House Bill No. 415 (on page 618, 1945, Vernon’s Texas Session Law ServLce) which became effective as a law June 18, 

1945, the provisions‘of same being as follows: 

“Chapter 354 

“H.B. No. 415 

“An act to amend Section 3 of Chapter 4, Acts of 

the First Called Sessfon, Forty-first Legislature, 1929, (suba,ivision 25 of Rule 47a’ of 

Article 4477, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes) 

so as to give a Court of competent jurisdiction 

and the county court in the county where the 

birth or death occurred authority to order the 

County Clerk and the State Registrar to issue 

a certified copy of any birth or death certlficate wherein a child or adult is stated to be 

illegitimate, and authorizing the County Clerk 

to deliver, at the request of said illegitimate 

person or of their guardian or legal representative, a certifi,ed copy of such certificate; and 

declaring an emergency e 

“BE IT ENACTm BY !tH E LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TXKAS “. 
Honorable W. A. Davis, page 3 o-6751 

('Section 1. That Section 3 of Chapter 4, Acts 

of the First Called Session, Forty-first Legislature, 

1929, (subalvi9lon 25 of Rule 47a of Article 4477, 

Vernon's Annotated CiVll Statut'es) be and the same 

is hereby amended so as to hereafter read as follows: 

"SectIon 3. That Section 14 df Chapter 41 

of the Acts of the Fortieth Legislature; passed at 

its~'First Called Session, be, and the same is hereby amended by Bdding'thereto SubdIvision 25, which 

subdivision shall read as follows: 

“I (25) And provided that the name of the father, 

or"any information by which he might be laentlfied, 

shall not be written into the birth OP death certificate of any illegitimate child; and. proviaed;~ 

further, that any statement thst the father of an 

Lllegltimate child. wishes to make as to its parentage, may, when placed fn the form of an affidavit, 

be attached to the original birth record. Neither 

the State Registrar nor any local Registrar shall issue 

a certified copy of any birth or death certificate, 

wherein a child or an adult Is stated to be illegitlmate, unless such certified copy Is ordered by 

the County Court in the county In which said child 

was born or died., or by a Court of competent jurisdiction, or by s&M lllegI.tlmate person or the guardian 

or legal representative thereof.' 

"Sec. 2. The fact that there is confusion as to 

whether the County Court would have authority to 

enter an order authorizing the County Clerk or State 

Registrar to issue certified copies of birth or'aeath 

certificates of illegltlmate persons, and the fact 

that said Illegitimate person cannot get a certificate of its birth upon request, nor can a certificate 

of death be obtained except upon order of the Court, 

create an emergency and an imperative public necessity 

that the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be 

read bn three several days in each House be suspended, 

and. said Rule is hereby .suspendecI, and this Act shall 

take effect from and after its passage, and it Is so 

enacted." 

For reasons hereinafter stated, the only effect of the 

above amendment is to authorize the County Court in the county 

in which the illegitimate child was born or died to order the 

issuance'of certified copies of birth or death certificates 

wherein a person is stated to be lllegltlmate, and to prohlblt 

the issuance of same by the State Registrar without such order. 
. Honorable W. A. Davis, page 4 O-6751 

Under the old law (subaivislon 25 of Rule 47a of Art. 4477) 

wherein Mzthority to order the issuance of instruments of this 

nature w&3 given only to a "court of competent jurisdlctibn", 

this department held In Opinion No. O,-5103 to the effect that 

the district courts had such jurisdiction under and by vii+ue 

of S@ction 8 of Art. 5 of the Constitution of Texas In that 

the action involved was one for which jurisdiction is nbt 

prbvlaed by law. Alsb, ln otir Opinion No. 5103-A it was held 

that a County Court was"not a court of competent jurisaictlon 

within the meaning of said statute. Now, since the enactment 

of the above amendment the County Court ln'the county fn whlcb 

the illegitimate 'person was born or died has exclusive orIgIna 

jurltiaiction of'an action to procure the birth or death certificate of such illegitimate person and as jurlsd-ictron is 

now'provided by law, the district court no longer is a "court 

of competent jurisdiction" 

tion. 

in respect to original jurisdlcSee Opinion No. O-6783, a copy of which has been furnished you. 

Sald House Bill No. 415, supra, is defective insofar 

as same by Its title attempts to give the County Clerk authority, under circumstances thereln set out, to issue such birth 

or death certificates, for the reason that no mention Is mad@ 

ih the body of the bill of the County ClePk. However, the fact 

that the title of said bill Is broader than the body does not 

render the bill void as to the provislons contained therein 

which were also contained In the title. See 39 Tex. Jur. 99. 

But we deem it unnecessary that any such authority be given 

the County Clerk to Issue certifies copies of any record contalned in his office as the County Clerk has had such authorFty since the creation of his office, given by general law. 

We believe this view is amply sustained by our Opiniotis Nos. 

o-1386 ana O-3775. The title of said House Bill 415 also 

states among other things that such bill Is to give the' county 

court authority to order the State Registrar ?.o issue a 

certified copy of any birth or death certificate wherein a 

child or adult is stated to be illegitimate", but does not 

Include any authority for the State Registrar without acourt 

order to issue such certified copies at the request of the 

illegitimate person or his guardian or legal representative, 

It follows then that the provision in the body of said Bill 

purporting to give said State Registrar power to issue such 

certified copies wlthout a court order at the request of the 

illegitimate person or his guardian or legal representative 

Is Invalid and of no force end effect, It also follows that 

the provision in the body of such Bill purporting to give 

"any local Registrar" such authority Is also Invalid as same 

is not contained in the title of said Bill. 39 Tex. Jur. 

100-101. 
Honorable W. A. Davis - page 5 o-6751 

Therefore, each of the following paragraphs answer the 

correspondingly numbered questions submitted by you. 

(1) Said House Bill No. 415 confers no power on 

the County Clerk, neither does it restrict him in'any 

way from issuing certified copies of records contained 

in his office. 

(2) The filing of a petition Is the general way 

in which an action for judgment i.s commenced in the 

County Court. See Tex. Jur. 684. We believe this 

the proper method to pursue when seeking to obtain 

said order. The same fees should be collected as provided by statute for other similar civil suits filed 

in such court. 

(3) It Is a general rule that, in the absence'of 

some law permitting court action at another time'; all 

judicial proceedings should be conducted during a 

term while the court'is in session, There is no 

law permitting this action to be held In vacation by 

the County Court, 11 Tex. Jur. 800. 

(4) No, this Is fully explained herelnbefore. 

(5) Th ere is no court of competent jurisdiction 

in these matters other than the county court of the 

county In which the Illegitimate person in question 

was born or died. Such county court may direct its 

order to the county clerk of the county in which such 

illegitimate person was born or died, or to the State 

Registrar in Travis County, Texas, 

(6) No, if It is assumed you mean securing a copy 

of the birth or death certificate of an illegitimate 

person from the State Registrar. 

(7) Not without an order of the County Court of 

the county in which the illegitimate person was born 

or died. 

ReglL!iar' 

n order to obtain such copy from the State 

, she must obtain a court order as explained 

in our answer to question No. 2 herein, 

Of the opinions referred to herein, No. O-3775 was addressed to you; a copy of No, O-6783 has been sent you; and we 

herewith enclose copies of Nos. O-1386, O-5103 and 0-5103-A. 
Honorable W. A. Davis - page 6 o-6751 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TIUCAS 

BY 

Robert~'L. Lattimore, Jr., 

Assistant 

RLL:zd/jd/wc 

Encl. 

APPROVED NOV. 8, 1945 

s/Carlos C. Ashley 

FIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

APPROVED Opinion Committee by BWB Chairman