2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 41 - Vital Statistics › Title 1 - General Provisions › 4100 - Vital Statistics; Functions, Powers and Duties of the Department, Commissioner and Public Health Council.

§  4100.  Vital  statistics;  functions,  powers  and  duties  of  the
department, commissioner and public health council.  1.  The  department
shall, except in the city of New York:
(a) have charge of the registration of births and deaths;
(b) procure the faithful registration of births and deaths;
(c)  provide  the  necessary  instructions and forms for obtaining and
preserving records of births and deaths; and,
(d) be charged with  the  uniform  and  thorough  enforcement  of  the
provisions of this article throughout the state.
2. The commissioner shall:
(a) have general supervision of vital statistics;
(b)  provide  suitably  equipped  offices  for  the permanent and safe
preservation of all records received or made  under  the  provisions  of
this article;
(c)  prepare,  print,  and  supply to all registrars all forms used in
registering, recording and  preserving  the  returns,  or  in  otherwise
carrying out the purposes of this article;
(d)  prepare  and  issue  such detailed instructions, not inconsistent
with the sanitary code, as  may  be  required  to  procure  the  uniform
observance  of  the  provisions of this article and the maintenance of a
good system of registration;
(e) examine the certificates received monthly  and  if  any  such  are
incomplete  or unsatisfactory, he shall require such further information
to be supplied as may be necessary  to  make  the  record  complete  and
satisfactory;
(f) arrange, and permanently preserve the certificates in a systematic
manner;
(g) prepare and maintain a complete typewritten, printed, photographic
or  magnetically  stored index of all births and deaths registered; said
index to be arranged, in the case of deaths, by the names of  decedents,
and  in  the  case  of  births, by the names of fathers, or the names of
mothers if the names of the fathers do not appear; and
(h)  prescribe  and  prepare  the  necessary  methods  and  forms  for
obtaining  and  preserving records and statistics of autopsies which are
conducted by a coroner or by a medical examiner, or by his order, within
the state of New York, and  shall  require  all  those  performing  such
autopsies,  for  the  purpose  of  determining the cause of death or the
means or manner of death, to enter upon  such  record  the  pathological
appearances   and   findings   embodying  such  information  as  may  be
prescribed, and to append thereto the diagnosis of the  cause  of  death
and the means or manner of death.
(i)  upon  notification  by  the division of criminal justice services
that a person who was born in the state is a  missing  child,  flag  the
certificate record of that person in such manner that whenever a copy of
the record is requested, he or she shall be alerted to the fact that the
record  is  that  of a missing child. The commissioner shall also notify
the appropriate registrar to likewise  flag  his  or  her  records.  The
commissioner  or  registrar  shall  immediately  report to the local law
enforcement authority and the division of criminal justice services  any
request  concerning  flagged  birth  records  or  knowledge  as  to  the
whereabouts of any missing child. Upon notification by the  division  of
criminal justice services that the missing child has been recovered, the
commissioner  shall remove the flag from the person's certificate record
and shall notify any other previously notified registrar to  remove  the
flag  from  his or her record. In the city of New York, the commissioner
of the department of health for the city of New York shall implement the
requirements of this paragraph.
3. The public health council may from  time  to  time  establish  such
rules  and  regulations  in  the  sanitary  code  supplementary  to  the
provisions of this article and not inconsistent  therewith,  as  it  may
deem  necessary,  in  relation to the registration of births, deaths and
fetal  deaths.  Such  rules  and  regulations  shall  be observed by all
persons upon whom duties are imposed by this chapter in connection  with
the registration of births, deaths and fetal deaths.
4.  Certified nurse practitioners completing a death certificate for a
death occurring in the city of New York shall have  the  same  authority
and responsibility to complete the certificate as they would have if the
death   occurred   outside  such  city;  provided,  however,  that  such
responsibility shall be exercised  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and
regulations of the city of New York.