Illinois Administrative Code › Title 77 - PUBLIC HEALTH › Part 500 - ILLINOIS VITAL RECORDS CODE › Section 500.20 - Access to Vital Records

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
To protect the integrity of vital records, to insure their proper use,
			 and to insure the efficient and proper administration of the vital records
			 system, access to vital records, and indexes thereof, is limited to the
			 custodian and his employees, and then only for administrative
			 purposes.
Nothing in this Part shall be construed as authorization
to permit
access to or
inspection of
the
vital records
by any person other than the custodians or their
			 employees, nor as authorization
to disclose information contained
			 in
these
records, or copy, or permit to be copied, all or any
			 part of
these
records, except as authorized by the
			 Act
or this Part, or the Adoption Act (Section 24(1) of the
			 Act).
b)
The State
			 Registrar of Vital Records, or his agent, and any municipal, county,
			 multi-county health department, public health district, or regional health
			 officer recognized by the Department may examine vital records for the purpose
			 only of carrying out the public health programs and responsibilities under his
			 jurisdiction
(Section 24(2) of the Act). Vital records shared under
			 this subsection may include parts of the Certificate of Live Birth, including
			 the Birthing Parent's Medical and Health Information, when needed for the
			 limited purpose of carrying out public health programs. Only the minimum
			 information necessary for the intended purpose shall be disclosed. A person or
			 entity to whom vital records copies or data, including, but not limited to,
			 medical and health information, is furnished or to whom access to records has
			 been given shall not divulge any part of the information so as to disclose the
			 identity of the person to whom the information or record relates.
c)
The State Registrar of Vital
			 Records, may disclose, or authorize the disclosure of, data contained in the
			 vital records when deemed essential for bona fide research purposes which are
			 not for private gain
(Section 24(3) of the Act).
d)
Federal, State, local and other
			 public or private agencies may, upon request, be furnished copies or data for
			 statistical purposes upon terms or conditions as may be prescribed by the
			 Department.
Copies of vital records or data will be shared when deemed
			 by the Department to be in the public's interest, and not for the purpose of
			 commercial solicitation or private gain. Requests for data will be handled the
			 same as bona fide research requests in accordance with Section
			 500.70.
e) In accordance with Jane Doe II v. Lumpkin,
			 it shall be the duty of the persons responsible for the completion of the
			 Certificate of Live Birth to ensure that the information necessary to complete
			 the form is collected, recorded, and maintained in a confidential manner. This
			 duty includes retaining, in a secure manner, only one copy of either the
			 original birth record or the worksheet unless the hospital can demonstrate to
			 the State Register that more than one copy is necessary for the maintenance of
			 hospital records. Under no circumstances shall the original certificate or
			 worksheet be disclosed to anyone other than the birthing parent, hospital
			 officials responsible for completing the form, the State Registrar, the local
			 registrar in the case of a home birth, or hospital personnel directly involved
			 in the birthing parent's care and then only for administrative or health care
			 purposes.
f) In accordance with
			 Jane Doe II v. Lumpkin, hospital personnel responsible for the preparation of
			 the Certificate of Live Birth are strictly prohibited from requesting any
			 information or consent from the birthing parent or from presenting the
			 worksheet and/or the original certificate to the birth parents for information,
			 review, or signatures in the presence of anyone other than hospital personnel
			 directly involved in the birthing parent's care. The coparent's signature shall
			 be affixed to the original worksheet in a manner that will not divulge the data
			 contained in the section titled "Information for Medical and Health Use
			 Only".
g) In accordance with Jane
			 Doe II v. Lumpkin, under no circumstances shall the section of the Certificate
			 of Live Birth entitled "Information for Medical and Health Use Only" be
			 disclosed to anyone, with the exception of the birthing parent, the State
			 Registrar, the local registrar in the case of a home birth, and hospital
			 personnel directly involved in the birthing parent's care, unless written
			 informed consent has been given by the birthing parent. This prohibition
			 includes the coparent of the infant and all immediate and extended family
			 members. Consent shall be obtained from the birthing parent only when the
			 birthing parent is alone or in the presence of hospital personnel directly
			 involved in the birthing parent's care.
h) In adoption cases, the original birth
			 certificate shall not be subject to inspection until the adopted person has
			 reached the age of 21 years. The original birth certificate shall be made
			 available as provided in Section
			 18.1 b(e) of the Adoption Act
			 [410 ILCS
			 535/17(2a) ].
i) Certified copies of an official birth
			 record will be provided to the person to whom the record relates (if the person
			 is 18 years of age or older), or to the parents, to the legal guardians, and to
			 the legal representative, of the person to whom the record relates, upon
			 identification, proof of authority, and payment of the fee under Section 25 of
			 the Act.
j) Certified copies of an
			 official death record will be provided to the administrator or executor of the
			 decedent's estate.
k) Nothing in
			 this Part shall be construed to permit disclosure of information contained in
			 the "Information for Medical and Health Use Only" section of the Certificate of
			 Live Birth and the Certificate of Fetal Death unless specifically authorized by
			 a court of competent jurisdiction;
l) Nothing in this Part shall be construed to
			 permit disclosure of information contained in the "Information for Statistical
			 Purposes Only" section of the Certificate of Marriage or Certificate of
			 Dissolution, Invalidity of Marriage, or Legal Separation unless specifically
			 authorized by the State Registrar for statistical or research purposes or if
			 authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to 77 Ill. Adm. Code
			 500.70.
m)
All information
			 submitted to the Adoption Registry is confidential and gathered by the State
			 solely for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of updated medical data and
			 contact information between adopted and surrendered persons and other
			 registered parties. Information exchanged through the Registry shall not be
			 admissible as evidence nor discoverable in any action of any kind in any court
			 or before any tribunal, board, agency, or commission and shall not be
			 disclosed, except as authorized by this Part under the Adoption Act. Disclosure
			 of identifying information in violation of the Adoption Act is a Class A
			 misdemeanor.
(Section
			 18.8 of the Adoption
			 Act)
n) Any custodian of vital
			 records will verify birth, death, marriage and divorce information presented to
			 it by law enforcement agencies of federal, State, county and municipal
			 governments of the United States and its territories and by federal, State,
			 county and municipal government agencies, as well as consulates of foreign
			 governments that administer health, welfare, safety or public assistance
			 programs. [410 ILCS 535/3 ]
o) To generate uniform birth records that
			 will be accepted nationwide by all federal agencies, all states, and the U.S.
			 territories, and that conform to national practices that support anti-fraud and
			 homeland security efforts, the Department shall provide copies of birth records
			 that use all capital letters as generated by the electronic Illinois Vital
			 Records System.