CHAPTER 412

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 32-887, 32-887.1 and 82-887.8, as
amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to furnishing copies of
birth and death certificates.

[H 526]

Approved March 15, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 82-337, 32-337.1 and 32-837.3, as amended, of the Code of
Virginia 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 re-
corded, if he be sui juris, and if not upon the request of his legal repre-
sentative, 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 or county shall
issue a certified 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,
unless he receives a salary from his city or county in which event such
fees shall be paid into the county or 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 or county
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
or county shall, upon request of any parent or guardian, supply without
fee, a statement as to the date of birth of any child, when same is neces-
sary for admission to school or for the purpose of securing employment.

§ 32-337.38. 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 re-
corded 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 euplicant. This certificate may be in a form such as to be carried in
a billfold.

The issuance of a 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.