CHAPTER 429

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 32-337, 32-337.1 and 82-337.8 of the Code
of Virginia, as amended, relating to furnishing copies of birth and
death certificates and fees therefor, to authorize certain local regis-
trars of vital statistics to furnish the same. 3 311

[S 311]

Approved April 3, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 32-337, 32-337.1, and 32-337.3 of the Code of Virginia as
amended be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 32-337. The State Registrar or the local registrar of any city may,
in his discretion, upon request of the person whose birth is recorded, if he
be sui juris, and if not upon the request of his legal representative, or in
any case upon the request of a person legally entitled to the information, or
upon the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, furnish a certified copy
of the record of any birth registered under the provisions of this law, for
which a fee of fifty cents may be charged.

The State Registrar or the local registrar of any city shall issue a cer-
tified copy of the record of any death which is registered upon the request
of any legal representative of the deceased or of a person having a direct
interest in the matter recorded or upon order of a court of competent
jurisdiction, for which a fee of fifty cents may be charged.

The State Registrar or such local registrar shall be entitled to a fee of
fifty cents for each hour or fractional part of an hour of time of search, to
be paid by the applicant, and he shall keep a true and correct account of all
fees by him received under these provisions and turn them over to the
State Treasurer but the local registrar shall keep the fees so received, un-
less he receives a salary from his city, in which event such fees shall be paid
into the city treasury. ;

Any such copy of the record of a birth or death, when properly certi-
fied by the State Registrar or by the local registrar of any city to be a true
copy, shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and places of the facts
therein stated in accordance with authority of law.

§ 32-337.1. The State Registrar or the local registrar of any city
shall, upon request of any parent or guardian, supply without fee, a state-
ment as to the date of birth of any child, when same is necessary for admis-
sion to school or for the purpose of securing employment.

§ 32-337.3. The State Registrar or the local registrar of any city
shall, upon request, furnish any applicant having a direct interest in the
matter recorded a brief birth certificate, which shall contain only the
name, sex, color, date and place of birth, date of filing, where recorded and
the number. This short certificate shall be signed by the State Health
Commissioner, whose signature may be by facsimile but must be actually
signed before issuance by the State Registrar or local registrar and when so
signed shall be received in evidence as prima facie evidence of the facts
therein stated. A fee of fifty cents may be charged the applicant. This
certificate may be in a form such as to be carried in a billfold.

The issuance of full birth certificate shall be discretionary with the
State Registrar or such local registrar except when sought by the person
registered himself, if sui juris or by his legal representative, if non sui
juris, or under order of a court of competent jurisdiction, but the brief
certificate provided for in this section shall be issued whenever applied
for by a person having a direct interest in the matter recorded.