reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-5 - Revocation of Advance Directive for Health Care.

Section 22-8A-5
Revocation of advance directive for health care.
(a) An advance directive for health care may be revoked at any time by the declarant by any of the following methods:
(1) By being obliterated, burnt, torn, or otherwise destroyed or defaced in a manner indicating intention to cancel;
(2) By a written revocation of the advance directive for health care signed and dated by the declarant or person acting at the direction of the declarant; or
(3) By a verbal expression of the intent to revoke the advance directive for health care in the presence of a witness 19 years of age or older who signs and dates a writing confirming that such expression of intent was made. Any verbal revocation shall become effective upon receipt by the attending physician or health care provider of the above mentioned writing. The attending physician or health care provider shall record in the patient's medical record the time, date and place of when he or she received notification of the revocation.
(b) There shall be no criminal or civil liability on the part of any person for failure to act upon a revocation made pursuant to this section unless that person has actual knowledge of the revocation.
(Acts 1981, No. 81-772, p. 1329, §5; Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-6 - Proxy to Comply With Instructions, Intent of Patient.

Section 22-8A-6
Proxy to comply with instructions, intent of patient.
An individual designated to make decisions regarding the providing, withholding, or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration for another pursuant to Section 22-8A-4(b) shall make those decisions according to the specific instructions or directions given to him or her in the designation or other document or by the individual making the designation. In the absence of specific directions or guidance, the designated proxy shall make those decisions that conform as closely as possible to what the patient would have done or intended under the circumstances, taking into account the patient's personal, philosophical, religious and moral beliefs, and ethical values relative to the decisions. Where possible, the designated proxy shall determine how the patient would have weighed the burdens and benefits of initiating or continuing life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration against the burdens and benefits to the patient of that treatment.
(Acts 1981, No. 81-772, p. 1329, §6; Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-8 - Refusal of Health Care Provider to Comply; Penalties.

Section 22-8A-8
Refusal of health care provider to comply; penalties.
(a) A health care provider who refuses to comply with a living will or the directions of a duly designated proxy or a duly appointed surrogate or who refuses to honor a portable physician DNAR order executed in compliance with the directives of this chapter and using the form designated by the State Board of Health pursuant to this chapter shall promptly so advise the declarant and any individual designated to act for the declarant, shall not be liable for such refusal, but shall permit the patient to be transferred to another health care provider. Such health care provider shall reasonably cooperate to assist the declarant, or any individual designated to act for the declarant, in the timely transfer of the declarant to another health care provider that will follow the directions of the portable physician DNAR order, living will, health care proxy, or surrogate. During the time for the transfer, all life-sustaining treatments, including resuscitation efforts in the event of cardiopulmonary cessation and artificially provided nutrition and hydration, shall be properly maintained.
(b) No nurse, physician, or other health care provider may be required by law or contract in any circumstances to participate in the withholding or withdrawal of resuscitative measures or life-sustaining treatment if such person objects to so doing. No person may be discriminated against in employment or professional privileges because of the person's participation or refusal to participate in the withholding or withdrawal of resuscitative measures or life-sustaining treatment.
(c) Any person who willfully conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages the portable physician DNAR order or advance directive for health care of another without the declarant's consent or who falsifies or forges a revocation of the advance directive for health care of another shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
(d) Any person who falsifies or forges the portable physician DNAR order or advance directive for health care of another, or willfully conceals or withholds personal knowledge of the revocation of a portable physician DNAR order or advance directive for health care, with the intent to cause a withholding or withdrawal of resuscitative measures or life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration contrary to the wishes of the declarant, and thereby, because of such act, directly causes life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration to be withheld or withdrawn and death to be hastened, shall be guilty of a Class C felony.
(Acts 1981, No. 81-772, p. 1329, §8; Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §1; Act 2016-96, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-9 - Withholding or Withdrawal of Treatment, etc., Not Suicide; Execution of Advance Directive Not to Affect Sale, etc., of Life or Health Insurance nor Be Condition for Receipt of Treatment, etc.; Provisions of Chapter Cumulative.

Section 22-8A-9
Withholding or withdrawal of treatment, etc., not suicide; execution of advance directive not to affect sale, etc., of life or health insurance nor be condition for receipt of treatment, etc.; provisions of chapter cumulative.
(a) The withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration from a patient in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall not, for any purpose, constitute a suicide and shall not constitute assisting suicide.
(b) The making of an advance directive for health care pursuant to this chapter shall not affect in any manner the sale, procurement, or issuance of any policy of life or health insurance, nor shall it be deemed to modify the terms of an existing policy of life or health insurance. No policy of life or health insurance shall be legally impaired or invalidated in any manner by the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration from an insured patient, notwithstanding any term of the policy to the contrary.
(c) No physician or other health care provider, and no health care service plan, health maintenance organization, insurer issuing disability or life or health insurance, self-insured employee welfare benefit plan, nonprofit medical service corporation, or mutual nonprofit hospital or hospital service corporation shall require any person to execute an advance directive for health care as a condition for being insured for, or receiving, health care services.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall impair or supersede any legal right or legal responsibility which any person may have, under case law, common law, or statutory law, to effect the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration in any lawful manner. In such respect the provisions of this chapter are cumulative.
(e) Nothing in this chapter shall impair or supersede the jurisdiction of the circuit court in the county where a patient is undergoing treatment to determine whether life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration should be withheld or withdrawn in circumstances not governed by this chapter or to determine if the requirements of this chapter have been met.
(f) This chapter shall create no presumption concerning the intention of an individual who has not executed an advance directive for health care to consent to the use or withholding of life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutrition and hydration.
(Acts 1981, No. 81-772, p. 1329, §9; Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-10 - Provisions of Chapter Not an Approval of Mercy Killing, Etc.

Section 22-8A-10
Provisions of chapter not an approval of mercy killing, etc.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to condone, authorize or approve mercy killing or physician assisted suicide or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying as provided in this chapter.
(Acts 1981, No. 81-772, p. 1329, §10; Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-12 - Validity of Advance Health Care Directive Executed in Another State.

Section 22-8A-12
Validity of advance health care directive executed in another state.
An advance health care directive executed in another state in compliance with the law of that state or of this state is valid for purposes of this chapter, but this section does not authorize the administration, withholding, or withdrawal of health care otherwise prohibited by the laws of this state.
(Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §3.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-13 - Effect of Prior Declarations.

Section 22-8A-13
Effect of prior declarations.
Any declaration made prior to August 1, 2001, shall be given effect as provided in this chapter provided that:
(a) Such declaration was legally effective when written; and
(b) Artificially provided nutrition and hydration shall not be withdrawn pursuant to the declaration unless specifically authorized therein.
(Acts 1997, No. 97-187, p. 281, §4; Act 2001-658, p. 1352, §2.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-14 - Filing and Recording of Living Will; Fee; Inspection; Duty of Declarant to Provide Copy to Health Care Providers.

Section 22-8A-14
Filing and recording of living will; fee; inspection; duty of declarant to provide copy to health care providers.
(a) A person may file and have recorded a living will in the office of the judge of probate in the county where the person resides. For the purpose of this section, the term "living will" means an advanced directive for health care as provided for in this chapter, or a similar document.
(b) The fee for recording a living will shall be five dollars ($5), which shall be deposited in the county general fund. In addition, any other recording fees required by general or local law shall also be collected and shall be distributed as provided by that law.
(c)(1) A living will recorded pursuant to this section shall not be open for general public inspection, but shall be available for inspection and copying at the request of emergency medical personnel, hospital personnel, treating physicians, members of the immediate family, a person with a power of attorney or other legally authorized person, or a person authorized in writing by the maker of the living will. A judge of probate may charge the standard fee for copies provided pursuant to this subsection.
(2) A judge of probate shall not be liable for any inspection or copying of a living will recorded pursuant to this section. The recording of a living will as provided in this section shall have no bearing on the validity of the living will.
(d) This section does not amend or repeal the provisions of subsection (f) of Section 22-8A-4. It is the responsibility of the maker of a living will to provide a copy of the living will, advance directive for health care, or any similar document to his or her attending physician or other health care providers as provided therein. A physician, hospital, or other health care provider is not required by this section to search the records of the office of any judge of probate to determine the existence or nonexistence of a living will pertaining to individuals seeking medical care.
(Act 2006-413, p. 1026, §§1, 2.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-15 - Order for Pediatric Palliative and End of Life Care for Qualified Minor; Rulemaking Authority.

Section 22-8A-15
THIS SECTION WAS ASSIGNED BY THE CODE COMMISSIONER IN THE 2018 REGULAR SESSION, EFFECTIVE MARCH 28, 2018. THIS IS NOT IN THE CURRENT CODE SUPPLEMENT.
(a) The representative of a qualified minor may execute a directive with respect to the extent of medical treatment, medication, and other interventions available to provide palliative and supportive care to the qualified minor by completing and signing an Order for PPEL Care form. Once completed and signed by the representative, the attending physician may complete and sign the executed directive and enter the directive into the medical record of the qualified minor. Once properly entered and received into the medical record, the directive is deemed a valid Order for PPEL Care; provided, however, it is the intent of this section to recognize the desires as reflected in communications, including verbal or written statements, of a qualified minor and of the representative of a qualified minor with respect to the extent of medical treatment, medication, and other interventions available to provide palliative and supportive care to the qualified minor. The desires, as reflected in communications, including verbal or written statements, of a qualified minor and representative of a qualified minor shall at all times supersede an Order for PPEL Care.
(b) The Department of Public Health, in consultation with the task force created pursuant to Section 22-8A-16, shall adopt rules not later than March 31, 2019, establishing the Order for PPEL Care form.
(c) The Department of Public Health may adopt rules to implement this section.
(Act 2018-466, §3.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8A - Termination of Life-Support Procedures. › Section 22-8A-17 - Application of Order for Ppel Care Form; Liability.

Section 22-8A-17
THIS SECTION WAS ASSIGNED BY THE CODE COMMISSIONER IN THE 2018 REGULAR SESSION, EFFECTIVE MARCH 28, 2018. THIS IS NOT IN THE CURRENT CODE SUPPLEMENT.
(a) An Order for Pediatric Palliative and End of Life (PPEL) Care shall only apply in the school setting if the order is included as part of a Palliative and End of Life Individual Health Plan executed pursuant to Chapter 30B of Title 16.
(b) The attending physician of a qualified minor shall have no supervisory authority over a school's execution of a Palliative and End of Life Individual Health Plan. Any health care provider or health care facility acting within the applicable standard of care with regard to a Palliative and End of Life Individual Health Plan is not subject to criminal or civil liability and may not be found to have committed an act of unprofessional conduct. Nothing in this chapter or any related act involving Orders for PPEL Care shall be construed to establish a standard of care for physicians or otherwise modify, amend, or supersede any provisions of the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1987, the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1996, or any amendment or judicial interpretation thereof.
(Act 2018-466, §4.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-1 - Short Title.

Section 22-8B-1
Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Assisted Suicide Ban Act.
(Act 2017-231, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-2 - Legislative Findings.

Section 22-8B-2
Legislative findings.
The Legislature finds all of the following:
(1) In almost every state, it is a crime to assist a suicide. These bans are long-standing expressions of the commitment of the states to protect and preserve all human life.
(2) The state has an interest in protecting vulnerable groups, including the impoverished, the elderly, and disabled persons from abuse, neglect, and mistakes. A ban on assisted suicide reflects and reinforces our belief that the lives of those in vulnerable groups are no less valued than the lives of the young and healthy.
(3) The state has an interest in protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession, including its obligation to serve its patients as healers and adhere to the principles articulated in the Hippocratic Oath.
(4) The state recognizes the close link between physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia where a right to die can easily become a duty to die. A prohibition against assisted suicide is the only reasonable means to protect against foreseeable abuses.
(5) The state recognizes the distinction between a patient refusing life-sustaining medical treatment where he or she dies from the underlying fatal disease and a patient ingesting or administering a lethal medication prescribed by a physician, where the medication is the cause of death. The state also recognizes the difference between pain management intended to alleviate pain and pain medicine used to assist in causing death.
(Act 2017-231, §2.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-3 - Definitions.

Section 22-8B-3
Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) AID IN DYING. The act of a person providing the means or manner for another person to be able to commit suicide, with actual knowledge that the person deliberately intends on committing suicide by that means or manner.
(2) ARTIFICIALLY PROVIDED NUTRITIONAL HYDRATION. A medical treatment consisting of the administration of food and water through a tube or intravenous line, where the recipient is not required to chew or swallow voluntarily. Artificially provided nutrition and hydration does not include assisted feeding, such as spoon or bottle feeding.
(3) DELIBERATELY. More than knowing the consequences of an act or action; meaning to consider carefully; done on purpose; intentional; requiring premeditation; with intent to cause the death of a person.
(4) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER. Any individual who may be asked to participate in any way in a health care service, including, but not limited to, a physician, physician's assistant, nurse, nurse's aide, medical assistant, hospital employee, clinic employee, nursing home employee, pharmacist, pharmacy employee, researcher, medical or nursing school faculty member, student, or employee, counselor, social worker, or any professional, paraprofessional, or any other person who furnishes or assists in the furnishing of health care services.
(5) LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT. Any medical treatment, procedure, or intervention that, in the judgment of the attending physician, when applied to the patient, would serve only to prolong the dying process where the patient has a terminal illness or injury, or would serve only to maintain the patient in a condition of permanent unconsciousness. These procedures include, but are not limited to, assisted ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, renal dialysis, surgical procedures, blood transfusions, and the administration of drugs and antibiotics. Life-sustaining treatment does not include the administration of medication or the performance of any medical treatment where, in the opinion of the attending physician, the medication or treatment is necessary to provide comfort or to alleviate pain.
(6) PERSON. Any natural person, and when appropriate, an organization, to include all of the following:
a. A public or private corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, or joint-stock company.
b. Government or a governmental instrumentality.
c. A foundation, institution, society, union, club, or church.
(7) PHYSICIAN. A person licensed to practice medicine in the state, including medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy.
(8) SUICIDE. The act or instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally.
(Act 2017-231, §3.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-4 - Prohibited Activity.

Section 22-8B-4
Prohibited activity.
(a) Any person who deliberately assists another person to commit suicide or provides aid in dying is guilty of a Class C felony.
(b) Any physician or health care provider who prescribes any drug, compound, or substance to a patient deliberately to aid in dying or assists or performs any medical procedure deliberately to aid in dying is guilty of a Class C felony.
(Act 2017-231, §4.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-5 - Liability for Damages; Wrongful Death Action; Suspension or Revocation of License.

Section 22-8B-5
Liability for damages; wrongful death action; suspension or revocation of license.
(a) Any person, physician, or health care provider who deliberately violates this chapter by aiding in dying shall be liable for damages.
(b) If any person deliberately aids in dying in violation of this chapter that results in death, the personal representative or administrator of the estate of the decedent may bring an appropriate action for wrongful death.
(c) Any physician or other health care provider who deliberately aids in dying in violation of this chapter shall be considered to have engaged in unprofessional conduct for which his or her license to provide health care services in the state shall be suspended or revoked by the appropriate licensing board.
(Act 2017-231, §5.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-6 - Construction of Chapter.

Section 22-8B-6
Construction of chapter.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a physician or health care provider from doing any of the following:
(1) Participating in the execution of a person sentenced by a court to death by any means recognized by Alabama law.
(2) Following a patient's wishes or health care proxy's instructions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment or artificially provided nutritional hydration.
(3) Prescribing and administering palliative care or pain medication treatment options intended to relieve pain while the illness or condition of the patient follows its natural course.
(4) Following the wishes or instructions of an individual which are made in compliance with Chapter 8A.
(Act 2017-231, §6.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 8B - Assisted Suicide Ban Act › Section 22-8B-7 - Legislative Intent.

Section 22-8B-7
Legislative intent.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the Attorney General exhaust the internal resources and personnel of the office prior to the retention of any outside counsel to assist in the defense of any constitutional challenge to this chapter.
(Act 2017-231, §7.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-2 - Office of Vital Statistics and Statewide System of Vital Statistics.

Section 22-9A-2
Office of Vital Statistics and statewide system of vital statistics.
The State Board of Health shall have charge of an Office of Vital Statistics. The Office of Vital Statistics shall install, maintain, and operate the only system of vital statistics and the only system of health statistics throughout this state. The Office of Vital Statistics shall be provided with sufficient staff, suitable offices, and other resources for the proper administration of the system of vital statistics and for the preservation and adequate security of its official records. The State Board of Health, hereinafter referred to as "the board," may adopt, amend, and repeal rules for the purpose of carrying out this chapter.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §2.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-3 - Appointment of State Registrar of Vital Statistics; Duties of State Registrar.

Section 22-9A-3
Appointment of State Registrar of Vital Statistics; duties of State Registrar.
(a) The board shall appoint the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, hereinafter referred to as "State Registrar," in accordance with procedures and practices of the State Personnel Board.
(b) The State Registrar shall perform each of the following functions:
(1) Administer and enforce this chapter and the rules issued hereunder, and issue instructions for the efficient administration of the system of vital statistics.
(2) Direct and supervise the system of vital statistics and the Office of Vital Statistics and be custodian of its records.
(3) Direct, supervise, and control the activities of all persons when they are engaged in activities pertaining to the operation of the system of vital statistics.
(4) Conduct training programs to promote uniformity of policy and procedures throughout the state in matters pertaining to the system of vital statistics.
(5) With the approval of the board, prescribe, furnish, and distribute forms as are required by this chapter and the rules issued hereunder, or prescribe other means for transmission of data as will accomplish the purpose of complete and accurate reporting and registration.
(6) Prepare and publish reports of vital statistics of this state and other reports as may be required by the board.
(7) Provide to local health departments copies of or data derived from certificates and reports required under this chapter, as he or she shall determine are necessary for local health department planning and program activities. The State Registrar shall establish a schedule with each local health department for transmittal of the copies or data. The copies or data shall remain the property of the Office of Vital Statistics, and the uses which may be made of the copies or data shall be governed by the State Registrar.
(c) The State Registrar may delegate functions and duties vested in him or her to employees of the Office of Vital Statistics and to employees of any office established or designated under Section 22-9A-4.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §3.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-4 - Registration Districts.

Section 22-9A-4
Registration districts.
The board may designate vital records registration districts within the state. The board may from time to time, as conditions justify, consolidate or subdivide the districts to facilitate registration. Each county in the state shall be a registration district unless and until changed by the board.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §4.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-5 - Local Registrars and Deputy Registrars of Vital Statistics.

Section 22-9A-5
Local registrars and deputy registrars of vital statistics.
(a) In each registration district, as defined in Section 22-9A-4 or as designated by the board, a local registrar and deputy registrars shall be appointed by the State Registrar upon the recommendation of the county health officer or his or her designee. All local registrars and deputy registrars shall be employees of the county health department. The local registrars and deputy registrars shall be subject to the control of the State Registrar when they are performing functions relating to the system of vital statistics.
(b) Any local registrar or deputy registrar of vital statistics who fails or neglects to discharge efficiently the duties of his or her office, as set forth in this chapter, or by the rules of the board, shall be removed as local or deputy registrar by the State Registrar, and penalties may be imposed as are provided.
(c) The local registrars and their deputies shall comply with all instructions of the State Registrar and monitor compliance of others with this chapter and with the rules of the board.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §5.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-6 - Content of Certificates and Reports.

Section 22-9A-6
Content of certificates and reports.
(a) The board shall by rule determine the items or information to be contained on certificates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce and on reports of fetal death and induced termination of pregnancy. Each certificate, report, and other document required by this chapter shall be in a format prescribed by the State Registrar.
(b) Information required in certificates or reports authorized by this chapter may be filed and registered by photographic, electronic, or other means as prescribed by the State Registrar.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §6.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-8 - Registration of Infants of Unknown Parentage.

Section 22-9A-8
Registration of infants of unknown parentage.
(a) Whoever assumes the custody of a live-born infant of unknown parentage shall report on a form and in a manner prescribed by the State Registrar within five days to the Office of Vital Statistics all of the following information:
(1) The date and place of finding.
(2) Sex, race, and approximate birth date of the child.
(3) Name and address of the person or institution with whom the child has been placed for care.
(4) Name given to the child by the custodian of the child.
(5) Other data required by rules of the board.
(b) The place where the child was found shall be entered as the place of birth.
(c) A report registered under this section shall constitute the certificate of birth for the child.
(d) If the child is identified and a certificate of birth is found or obtained, the report registered under this section shall be placed in a special file and shall not be subject to inspection except upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §8.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-10 - Judicial Procedure to Establish Facts of Birth.

Section 22-9A-10
Judicial procedure to establish facts of birth.
(a) If a delayed certificate of birth is rejected under Section 22-9A-9, a petition signed and sworn to by the petitioner may be filed with a circuit court of any county in this state in which he or she resides or was born, for an order establishing a birth record.
(b) The petition shall allege each of the following:
(1) The person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this state.
(2) No certificate of birth can be found in the Office of Vital Statistics.
(3) Diligent efforts by the petitioner have failed to obtain the evidence required in accordance with Section 22-9A-9.
(4) The State Registrar has refused to register a delayed certificate of birth.
(5) Other allegations as may be required.
(c) The petition shall be accompanied by a statement of the State Registrar made in accordance with Section 22-9A-9 and all documentary evidence which was submitted to the State Registrar in support of the registration.
(d) The court shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition and shall give the State Registrar 10 days notice of the hearing. The State Registrar or the authorized representative of the State Registrar may appear and testify in the proceedings, or evidence may be received by affidavit.
(e) If the court finds, from the evidence presented, that the person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this state, it shall make findings as to the place and date of birth, parentage, and other findings as may be required and shall issue an order to establish a certificate of birth. The court order shall include each of the following:
(1) The full name and sex of the person for whom the birth certificate is sought.
(2) A statement that person was born in this state.
(3) The date of birth and county of birth.
(4) The full maiden name of the mother.
(5) The full name of the father, if legally established.
(6) A description of the evidence presented.
(7) The date of the action of the court.
(f) The clerk of the court shall forward each order to the State Registrar not later than the tenth day of the calendar month following the month in which the order was entered. The order shall be registered by the State Registrar and shall constitute the authority for placing a delayed certificate of birth on file.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §10.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-11 - Court Reports of Adoption.

Section 22-9A-11
Court reports of adoption.
(a) For each adoption decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, the court shall require the preparation of a report of adoption on a form prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar. The report shall indicate those facts necessary to locate and identify the certificate of birth of the person adopted or in the case of a person who was born in a foreign country, evidence from sources determined to be reliable by the court as to the date and place of birth of the person. The report shall provide information necessary to establish a new certificate of birth of the person adopted, identify the order of adoption, and be certified by the clerk of the court.
(b) Information necessary to prepare the report of adoption shall be furnished by each petitioner for adoption or his or her attorney. The child-placing agency or any person having knowledge of the facts shall supply the court with additional information as may be necessary to complete the report. The provision of the information shall be prerequisite to the issuance of a final decree in the matter by the court.
(c) Within 10 days of the entry of the final order of adoption, the judge or the clerk of the court shall send to the State Registrar reports of decrees of adoption, annulment of adoption, and amendments of decrees of adoption together with related reports as the State Registrar may require.
(d) When the State Registrar receives a report of adoption, annulment of adoption, or amendment of a decree of adoption for a person born outside this state, he or she shall forward the report to the State Registrar in the state of birth, the District of Columbia, or the territory of the United States, or if the child was born in Canada, to the appropriate registration authority in that country. If the birth occurred in a foreign country, and the child was not a citizen of the United States at the time of birth, the State Registrar shall prepare a "CERTIFICATE OF FOREIGN BIRTH" as provided in Section 22-9A-12.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §11.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-11.1 - Issuance of Certificate of Foreign Birth Without Judicial Proceedings.

Section 22-9A-11.1
Issuance of Certificate of Foreign Birth without judicial proceedings.
(a) A child who has automatically acquired United States citizenship following a foreign adoption and who possesses a Certificate of Citizenship in accordance with the Child Citizenship Act, CAA, P.L. 106-395, shall be exempt from the provisions of Section 22-9A-11, which require a judicial report to acquire a Certificate of Foreign Birth.
(b) The State Registrar, upon written request, shall prepare a Certificate of Foreign Birth reflecting the actual date and place of birth for a child who was born in a foreign country, adopted by a United States citizen, and who has automatically acquired citizenship in accordance with the federal Child Citizenship Act upon the production of all of the following documents:
(1) The child's Certificate of Citizenship.
(2) A certified copy of the child's foreign birth certificate and certified English translation.
(3) The original documents related to the foreign adoption certified by the United States Embassy abroad and certified English translation.
(4) The Social Security card of the child.
(5) A valid government issued picture identification of parent or parents, such as a passport or driver's license.
(6) Proof of residency of the parent or parents in the State of Alabama.
(c) The State Registrar shall develop any necessary forms for adoptive parents to submit in order to request a Certificate of Foreign Birth.
(Act 2012-179, p. 283, §2.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-13.1 - Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.

Section 22-9A-13.1
Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
(1) CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH RESULTING IN STILLBIRTH. A certificate issued to record and memorialize the birth of a stillborn child.
(2) STILLBIRTH or STILLBORN. An unintended, intrauterine fetal death after a gestational age of not less than 20 completed weeks.
(b) Effective January 1, 2012, the State Registrar shall issue a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth upon the request of a parent named on a report of fetal death filed on or after January 1, 2007. A Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth shall be issued within 60 days from the date of the request.
(c) The person who is required to file a report of fetal death under Section 22-9A-13, shall advise the parent of a stillborn child:
(1) That a parent may, but is not required to, request the preparation of a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.
(2) That a parent may obtain a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth by contacting the State Office of Vital Statistics after requesting the certificate and paying the required fee.
(3) How a parent may contact the Office of Vital Statistics to request a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.
(d) The State Board of Health may adopt rules to implement and administer this section. In addition to any other information required by the rules of the State Board of Health, the certificate shall include the following:
(1) The date of the stillbirth.
(2) The county in which the stillbirth occurred.
(3) The name of the stillborn child as provided in the report of fetal death. If a name was not provided at the time of the filing of the report of fetal death, the State Registrar, upon the request of a parent listed in the report of fetal death, shall add a name to the certificate when issued.
(4) The file number of the corresponding report of fetal death.
(5) The following statement: "This certificate is not proof of live birth."
(e) The fee for the issuance of the Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth shall be the same as the fee collected for the issuance of a certified copy of any other vital record.
(Act 2011-706, p. 2187, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-15 - Delayed Registration of Death.

Section 22-9A-15
Delayed registration of death.
(a) When a death occurring in this state has not been registered within the time period prescribed by subsection (a) of Section 22-9A-14, a certificate of death may be registered on a regular certificate of death as follows:
(1) If the attending physician, county medical examiner, state medical examiner, or coroner at the time of death and the attending funeral director or person who acted as the funeral director are available to complete and sign the certificate of death, it may be completed without additional evidence and filed with the State Registrar. For those certificates filed one year or more after the date of death, the physician, county medical examiner, state medical examiner, coroner, or the funeral director shall state in accompanying affidavits that the information on the certificate is based on records kept in their files.
(2) In the absence of the attending physician, county medical examiner, state medical examiner, coroner, or the funeral director or person who acted as the funeral director, the certificate may be filed by the next of kin of the deceased and shall be accompanied by both of the following:
a. An affidavit of the person filing the certificate swearing to the accuracy of the information on the certificate.
b. Two documents which identify the decedent and his or her date and place of death.
(3) In all cases, the State Registrar may require additional documentary evidence to prove the facts of death.
(4) A summary statement of the evidence submitted in support of the delayed registration shall be endorsed on the certificate.
(b) Certificates of death registered one year or more after the date of death shall be marked "DELAYED REGISTRATION" and shall show on their face the date of the delayed registration.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §15.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-17 - Marriage Registration.

Section 22-9A-17
Marriage registration.
(a) Two persons desiring to unite in marriage may do so by submitting the affidavits, forms, and data specified in Section 30-1-5 and Section 30-1-9.1 for recording with the office of the judge of probate. The recording of the affidavits, forms, and data establishes legal recognition of the marriage as of the date the affidavits and forms were properly signed by the two parties so long as the documentation was provided to the probate office within 30 days of the signatures of the parties. Each marriage filed with the probate office shall be filed and registered with the Office of Vital Statistics.
(b) The office of the judge of probate shall record, in a permanent record, each marriage presented to the probate office for filing so long as the affidavits, forms, and data are submitted as required by Act 2019-340, and shall forward each marriage filed with the probate office during the preceding calendar month to the Office of Vital Statistics on or before the fifth day of the following calendar month.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §17; Act 2019-340, §1.)
2023 Code of Alabama › Title 22 - Health, Mental Health, and Environmental Control. › Title 1 - Health and Environmental Control Generally. › Chapter 9A - Vital Statistics. › Section 22-9A-18 - Divorce Registration.

Section 22-9A-18
Divorce registration.
(a) A record of each divorce or annulment granted by any court in this state shall be filed by the clerk, register, or clerk and register of each court with the Office of Vital Statistics and shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. The record shall be prepared by the petitioner or his or her representative on a form or in a format prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar and shall be presented to the clerk or register with the petition. In all cases, the completed record shall be prerequisite to the granting of the final decree.
(b) The clerk, register, or clerk and register shall complete and forward to the Office of Vital Statistics on or before the fifth day of each calendar month the records of each divorce or annulment decree granted during the preceding calendar month.
(Acts 1992, No. 92-607, p. 1255, §18.)