New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 8 - HEALTH › Chapter 2A - DEATH RECORDS › Subchapter 2 - ACCESS TO DEATH RECORDS › Section 8:2A-2.1 - Certified copies

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a)The State Registrar
				or a local registrar may only issue a certified copy of a death record to a person
				who satisfies the following requirements:
1.The person is able to identify the record;
2.The person provides, at a minimum, all of the information
				  requested on the Vital Statistics and Registration form entitled "Application for a
				  Certification or a Certified Copy of a Vital Record," available from the Department
				  upon request by calling (609) 292-4087 and at
http://nj.gov/health/vital/vital.shtml
;
				  and
3.The person produces documentation verifying that he or she
				  is:
i.The parent of the subject of the death record;
ii.The subject's legal guardian or legal representative;
iii.The subject's spouse or domestic partner;
iv.The subject's child, grandchild or sibling, if of legal
				  age;
v.A State or Federal agency requesting the record for official
				  purposes;
vi.A person requesting the record pursuant to a court order;
				  or
vii.A person requesting the record under emergent circumstances,
				  as determined on a case-by-case basis by the Commissioner.
(b)The certified copy of the death record shall
				include information deemed appropriate by the State Registrar; however, at a
				minimum, it shall include the name of the decedent, place of death (county,
				municipality), date of death, sex, date of birth, date of issuance and manner of
				death, providing this information is available.
(c)The certified copy of the death record may
				include other information; however, the last sickness and death particulars (cause
				of death and medical particulars) will only be included on the certified copy of the
				death record if the applicant satisfies the requirement in (a)3 above and requests
				that the last sickness and death particulars be included.
(d)Any of the relatives to the decedent listed in
				(a)3i through iv above, with the exception of the funeral director as legal
				representative, may consent to the release to a third party of a certified copy of
				the death record containing cause of death and medical particulars. Such consent
				must be provided in the form of an Authorization for Release of Cause of Death
				similar to that set forth in Appendix A, incorporated herein by reference.
(e)Any certified copy of a death record, with or
				without last sickness and death particulars, may be released without consent under
				the following conditions:
1.To qualified personnel for the purpose of conducting scientific
				  research only under the following conditions:
i.An Institutional Review Board, constituted pursuant to Federal
				  regulation
				  45 C.F.R.
				  46.101 et seq., shall review and approve the
				  research protocol prior to release of the death record;
ii.Research personnel shall not identify the subject of the
				  record, directly or indirectly, in any report of the research; and
iii.Research personnel shall not disclose the identity of the
				  subject of the record in any manner;
2.To qualified personnel for the purpose of conducting management
				  audits, financial audits or program evaluation only under the following
				  conditions:
i.Personnel shall not identify the subject of the record, directly
				  or indirectly, in any report of an audit or evaluation;
ii.Personnel shall not disclose the identity of the subject of the
				  record in any manner; and
iii.Identifying information shall not be released to the personnel
				  unless it is vital to the audit or evaluation;
3.To the Department as required by State or Federal law; or
4.As permitted by the rules adopted by the Commissioner for the
				  purposes of disease prevention and control.