Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

OFFICE 0~ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TzxAs
AUsTIN
Dr. 680. y. CO%
state &alth Offiber
Auatiin, Texar
beea rsoeiy-
an~unreglrtereQ
to the County Judge,
the Coun8p Sudgr
fee's mentioned above ooa-
oliz4ed ln4r~Lble 3988 and
ire6 Btatutel of 19$6t
The pertiaent paragraph of H.B. &of the
Party-rlxth kgislature, inrolylng birthi and death@
'not preolcn)sl~ registered* Is, oontalned~la Beat&on 2
and reads as follows:
Dr. Gee. W. COX, ~Page 2
“And provided further, that any oltizen
of the State of Texas wishing to file the reo-
ord of any birth or death, not prevlouely reg-
iatered, pm eub+alt to the Probate court In th&
gountr where the birth or death oocurea a
reoord of that birth or death written & the
adopted forms of birt&.and death oertlfioatee.
The oertltloate shall be subetantlated by the
affldavlt of the medical attendant present at
the time of the birth, or in oaee of death,
the,affldavit of the pbJnlc$an last in atten-
dance upon the deoeased, or the undertaker who
burled the body. When the affidavit of the
medical attendant or undertaker oannot be eeour-
ed, the oertlrioate ehall be eupported by the
affidavit of some person who was aoqualnted
with the faot8 surrounding the birth or death,
at the time the birth or death oocured, with
a seoond affidavit of 8ome person who ia’ ao-
qualnted with the facts surrounding the birth
or death, and who le nob rel+ated to lhe+indlrid-
ual by blood or marriage. he Proba e ourt
ad&z pmaire 8uch other Information or m
ge may be deemed neoeeeary to eatabllsh the
D of the indivi ‘t oert -
floate. and the truthfuln%of zatatementi
@de in that reoord. The Clerk of the salQ
Coutar 8
State Bureau of Vital Statlstio8 with an e
from the court to the State RePlstrar that‘tu
record be, or be not, aooeoted, pha State % -
latrar Is authorized to aooept the oertlfioatz
when verified in the above manner, and shall
Issue oertlfied ooplee ai euoh recorda as pro-
vided for in Seation 21 of this Act. Suoh oer-
tifled ooplea shall be prima facie evidenoe ln
all Court&and laces of the facts stated there-
on. The State Iiureau of Vital Statistics shall
turniah the forms upon whioh such reoorde are
filed, and no other lorm i&all be ueed for that
purpoee. * (gnderecoring oura).
Partioular attention Is oalled to the follow-
‘The olerk of the said Court &all for-
,314
Dr. Gee. W. Cox, Page 3
ward the certificate to the State Bureau of VI-.
tal Statistice with an order from the Court to
the State Registrar that the record be. or be
not aocepted; The State RIelstrer Is iuthor-
&& to aace& the oertlrloate when verlfled
in the above manner, * l l * (IJnder r o o r lng o u r 81
The above quoted section Of 2. B. 614 oreater a
new method for. the registration of births and Qdaths
‘not previously registered*, In opinion Ho. O-1201
thlr department has held the phrase “not preriouely
reglatered* applloable to all reoor5LI and oertifloatee
of birth and death not regietered In strlot oompllinoe
with Seotlon 9 and 12 of Article 4477, %vleed Civil
Statutes. The new method lnvolvee the lmrlng of erl-
denoe by the Probate Court anU.an order OS the oourt
oerltying or denying the rebord and lnstruotlng the
State he letrar to accept or reJeot the record. In.
opinion iio. O-1203 we have ruled that the matter of de-
layed reglatratlon of birth6 and death6 be aooorded
the etatue and dlgnltr of a probate proceeding a,nd that
a record of the prooeedlngs be kept.
In view of the above reasoning and previous opln-
Ion6 of this department, lt~ followe that the order of
the Probate Judge aooompanylng the oertlrioate of birth
or death registration of wlrich has been delayed, haa
Suufaud’olal foroe and Is binding upon the.State %g-
The Statute reads that ‘Ithe State negirtrar lo
authorized to aooept the oertlfioate when rerlfled In
the above manner l&&. when verlfled by court order.
At the time the ceglrlature conferred the authorl-
tl to accept the oertltloate upon the State %glstrar,
In our opinion It lmpliedly subJeote6 the State R,egls-
trar to the Judgment of the court In reepeot to the va-
lldlty of the record. Gonsequeritlr,, we reaoh the oon-
elusion that the order would be binding upon the State
Registrar. He 00uia not ref’ueeto accept a ce;F:$ate
of delayed regletratlon of a birth or d.eath.
other band, this does not mean that the State Regletrar
could not return a certifloate to’the Probate court for
Correction when patent errore or omissions, or inoon-
sistenoiea apvear on the face of the oertifLoateb
It le our opinion that the State Registrar Is
Dr. Gee. W. Cox, Page 4
not authorlzed under any oonaltlone to refuse to file
a record of a birth or death not previously re letered
which has been approved by the county (probate f Judge
when eald reoord on Its faoe Is teohnloall~ oorreot.
Your eeoolid question is anawered in oplnlone
Nos. O-1060 and O-1203 of this department, in whloh we
hold that the feee due the county (probate) Judge and
oountg clerk are payable by those who receive the bene-
fit of the. eervloee, i.e. the apolloante In reepeot to
delayed registration ofi births and deaths. It 1s true
that the etatute (H.B. 614) doee not specify who ehall
bear the burden of paying the fees involved in the
preoeedlnge, but it le our oplnlon that the cltlren
apclylng for the delayed registration of birth o’r death
must pay the fees of the:oounty (probate) Judge an+
oounty olerk.
.Your third queetlon Is treated in our opinion
No. 0-1066 In that opinion we held that Artlolee 3925
and 3930, &vleed civil f)tatuter, of the General ?re~
Statutes, governed in the UaSe oU ddlayed regletrtitlone
of births and deathe under H.B. 614, and that the ooun-
ty Judge and oounty olerk shell eaoh reoeive the fee
of fifty-aente (#.SO) in return for their re~peotlve
servicer of entering the order and oertlfylng the 6-e
to the bureau of Vital 8tatletlce, :
In respect to the fee of fifty-oente ($.50) for
the county olerk, we quoted in opinion O-1066 the fol-
lowing provision of Artiole 3930, %vleed Civil stat-
utes:
“Each certificate to any faot or faote oon-
talned in the reoorde of his office, with oe?-
tlfloate and seal, where not otherwiee provided
for * * * fifty-oehte ($.60).a
The oounty olerk under said provision would be
entitled to fifty-oente (#.50) for forwarding the aer-
tlfloate to the State Bureau of Vital 2tatletloe wlth
an order from the Court.
It la our further opinion that the following
provision of Artlole 3330, Rei~leea Civil Statutes,
v0ula also apply:
*Recording all papers required or permitted
by law to.be recorded, not otherwise provided
for, lncludlng certlfioate ana seal, for eaoh
100 word8 * l l ten cents ($.lO).”
it 1s our opinion that the oounty olerk 1s also
entitled to hla recoralng fee m~U@d for in the above
provlelon Artlole 3930, +erleed Civil statutes.
Your fourth a& final queetlon 1s fully answer-,
ea In opinion No. O-1201 In whlah thle department ruled
that applications for registration of birth and death
oertlfloatee *not prevlouely registersa*, In acoordance
vlth the terms o.f ?I. B. 614 should be numbered and en-
tered on the docket of the &obate Court Ind that *ll
-prMeedlnga in aannectlon therewith should be entered
In the minutes of the Probatd Court.
We sug id the r0u0mg entry for the mlnuter
of the Probate 4 ourt as a general form in the event ai
the grsqtlng af,aaia above reg$atration:
: .
c
: “08 thle dar, came on to be heard the appllca- :
1 eLell``O,i ( 4 a’eitizan of the :
: Btatt of-%edas. to file the keoord of the birth (or :
: death) of -’ . the eald birth :
: (or d&th)i lot havlrw been urevlously reqlstered. :
t The oer.tlfloate``of birth (0; &eath)(‘as tj he case I
: may be), having been substantiated by the aifldavlt :
: of the ineaioal attendant, . :
: nresent at the time of the birth ior death). the :
: brfldavlt ot the physician, ,:
: laat in attendanoe upon the deoeaeed or the ualer- :
: taker , vha 6urle-4 the body. :
: 1
: (The medical attendant or undertaker~not having :
: been aeoured): %e oertlfloate having beea :
: aubetantlatea by an afi”laarlt ai n person who``was
: aoqualnted with the faote.aurroundlng the birth ob :
1 aeath, to-wit: ; who was :
: :
Dr. Qeo. W. Cox, Page 6
not related to the deceaeed or the Individual by :
: blood or marriage (or In the event the oourt seea :
: ?It to require iurther ln?oromtlon or eridenoe ae I
: to the oltitenehip of the applloant or InOlvldual :
: raking the aertlfloate), and esld oertliloate be- :
: ing MeF
_ __ - . eubetantlated
_ by ?urther etldenoe and :
: arf laavlt e or :
:. as to the truth%- :
: nees of the etatembntr maae In the oertlfloete :
: and as to the oltltenahip of the oltlzen or lndlvl-:
dual making the oertlflcate. :
: :
: It appearing to the oourt that the birth of :
oocurea In the County o? :
State of Texas on the :
: say of A.D. i9 (or In oaee o?- :
: death), It appe:rIng to the oou!t that the death :
: Of ooourea In the Bounty of :
: , State of Texas, on the :
: day of , A.D. 19 . :
: :
1 IT IS, TEEZFORE, ORDERED that the Clerk of :
the County Court of the County of
: State of Texas, forvard the oertlfloate to the ' ;
: State Bureau of Vital %atlstIcs, and lttq. here- :
by ordered o? the State Beglatrar that the record :
: herein be aocepted. :
:
: :
: County Juage :
!
: :.
Trusting that the above ?ully anewems the tour
Lnquiriea contained In your letter, we are
Yours very truly
APPROVE3 ATTORNEY
OENESALOF TEXAS
3plnlon OoamIttee
By BWB
Chairman
By (BIgned Disk 8tout
Dick Btout
DS:ob AecJstant
ENCLS. (3 oplnlons
O-1066, o-12Ol,O-12303)
Dr. ho. W. Cox, Page 7
0.0.: Hon. John R. Shook
Criminal District Attorney
San Antonio, Texas
0.0. Hon. Leo. C. Buckley
County Xttorney
Zapata County
Zapata, Texas
C.O. Hr. Leon Kotosky
ga;bXnt County Attorney
t T exam
AFFROVED
SEPT. 13, 19S9
(Signed>
ATTORNEY
GENERALOF TFXAS