# The Attorney General of Texas

December 22, 1982 MARK WHITE Attorney General

Supreme Court Building P. 0. Box 12546 Austin, TX. 7671% 2546 5121475-2501 Telex 9101674.1367 TelecoDier 5121475-0266

1607 Main St., Suite 1400 Dallas, TX. 75201-4709 214,742.6944

4624 Alberta Ave., Suite 160 El Paso. TX. 79905-2793 9151533-3464

1220 Dallas Ave., Suite 202 Houston. TX. 77002-6966 7131650-0666

606 Broadway. Suite 312 Lubbock, TX. 79401.3479 6061747.5236

4309 N. Tenth. Suite B McAllen, TX. 76501-1665 5121662.4547

200 Main Plaza, Suite 400 San Antonio, TX. 78205.2797 5121225-4191

An Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer Mr. Wake Adkins CityAttorney City of FortWorth 1000Throckmorton FortWorth, Texas 76102

DearMr. Adkins: Open RecordsDecisionNo. 338

Re: Availabilityof birth and death records held by local registrars

You have requested our decision under the Open Records Act, article 6252-17a,V.T.C.S., as to the availabilityof birth and death recordsmaintainedby a city health department.

Section 3(a)(15) of the Open RecordsAct excepts from disclosure "birth and death recordsmaintainedby the Bureau of Vital Statistics in the State of Texas." In Attorney General Opinion H-115 (1973), this office said that this provision also acts to except such records when in the custody of a county clerk "to the extent thathe maintains records of birth and death of the typemaintainedby the State Bureau of Vital Statistics." The opinion was based upon the following rationale:

To hold otherwise would present the anomalous

situation that the State Registrar of vita1 Statistics could not produce a record but that a local registraror a county clerk could.

In Open Records Decision No. 307 (1982), we held that article 6600, V.T.C.S., which directs a county clerk to furnish "attested copies whenever demanded of all papers recorded in his office," requires the conclusion that "birthand death recordskept by a county clerk are not excepted from disclosureunder any provisionof the Open Records Act." Attorney General Opinion H-115 was overruled "to the extent of conflict." Since Open Records Decision No. 307 addressed only the question of birth and death records maintained by a county clerk, you ask whether the same result is applicable to such records in the custodyof a cityhealth department.
Although Open Records Decision No. 307 based its result on the mandate of a statute first enacted in 1836, the existence of that statute completely undermines the reasoning of Attorney General Opinion H-115. If birth and death recordsmust be disclosedwhen in the custodyof a county clerk,but are exceptedwhen maintainedby theMr. Wade Adkins - Page 2

Bureau of Vital Statistics, the rationale of that opinion does not exist. When the legislature created the exception for state vital statistics information in section 3(a)(15), it must be presumed to have been aware that such records were disclosablewhen held at the county level. The only reasonable alternative to the reasoning of Attorney General Opinion H-115 is to conclude that, when the legislatureenacted section 3(a)(15), it chose its language carefully and meant thereby to except only those birth and death recordswhich
are maintained by the Bureau of vita1 statistics. Such an interpretation, in addition, follows the well established rule of constructionthat every sentence,clause,phrase and word of a statute is presumed to have been used for a purpose, and accordingly, should be given effect, if reasonably possible. Eddins-Walcher Butane Company v. Calvert, 298 S.W.2d 93, 96 (Tex. 1957). Had the legislature intended to except all vital statistics information, wherevermaintained, it need not have appended to section 3(a)(15) the clause "maintainedby the Bureau of Vital Statistics."

Moreover, rule 54a of article 4477, V.T.C.S., authorizesa local registrarwho issues certified copies of death certificates to charge the same fees charged by a state registrar. This language,added in 1979, further indicates the legislature'sintent that such recordsbe available upon request from local registrars. Acts 1979, 66th Leg., ch. 543, 82, at 1135.

This result is not without precedent. In Open Records Decision NO. 144 (1976), we noted that, although conviction information is readily available from court files, it need not be disclosedwhen in the custody of the Department of Public Safety, by virtue of section 3(a)(8) of the Open Records Act. We conclude that birth and death recordsmaintained by a city health department are not excepted from disclosureunder theOpen RecordsAct. AttorneyGeneralOpinionH-115 ishereby overruled.

MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas

JOBNW. FAINTER,JR. FirstAssistantAttorneyGeneral

RICHARD E. GRAY III ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral
Preparedby Rick Gilpin AssistantAttorneyGeneralMr. Wade Adkins - Page 3

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE

SusanL. Garrison,Chairman Rick Gilpin PatriciaHinojosa Jim Moellinger