H.B. 84

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INSPECTION OF VITAL RECORDS
2 1998 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: David L. Zolman
5 AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH; CLARIFYING THOSE PERSONS WHO HAVE A
6 DIRECT AND TANGIBLE INTEREST TO ACCESS VITAL RECORDS; AND
7 ESTABLISHING A TIME PERIOD AFTER WHICH A VITAL RECORD IS AVAILABLE
8 GENERALLY TO THE PUBLIC.
9 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
10 AMENDS:
11 26-2-22, as last amended by Chapter 202, Laws of Utah 1995
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
13 Section 1. Section 26-2-22 is amended to read:
14 26-2-22. Inspection of vital records.
15 (1) (a) The vital records shall be open to inspection, but only in compliance with the
16 provisions of this chapter, department rules, and Section 78-30-18. It is unlawful for any state or
17 local officer or employee to disclose data contained in vital records contrary to this chapter or
18 department rule.
19 (b) A custodian of vital records may permit inspection of a vital record or issue a certified
20 copy of a record or a part of it when the custodian is satisfied the applicant has demonstrated a
21 direct, tangible, and legitimate interest.
22 (2) A direct, tangible, and legitimate interest in a vital record is present only if:
23 (a) the request is from the subject, a member of the subject's immediate family, the
24 guardian of the subject, or a designated legal representative;
25 [(a)] (b) the request involves a personal or property right of the subject of the record;
26 [(b)] (c) the request is for official purposes of a state, local, or federal governmental
27 agency;

1 [(c)] (d) the request is for a statistical or medical research program and prior consent has
2 been obtained from the state registrar; or
3 [(d)] (e) the request is a certified copy of an order of a court of record specifying the record
4 to be examined or copied.
5 (3) For purposes of Subsection (2):
6 (a) "immediate family member" means a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, or
7 grandchild;
8 (b) a designated legal representative means an attorney, physician, funeral director,
9 genealogist, or other agent of the subject or the subject's immediate family who has been delegated
10 the authority to access vital records;
11 (c) except as provided in Title 78, Chapter 30, Adoption, a parent, or the immediate family
12 member of a parent, who does not have legal or physical custody of or visitation rights for a child
13 because of the termination of parental rights pursuant to Title 78, Chapter 3a, Juvenile Courts, or
14 by virtue of consenting to or relinquishing a child for adoption pursuant to Title 78, Chapter 30,
15 Adoption, may not be considered as having a direct, tangible, and legitimate interest; and
16 (d) a commercial firm or agency requesting names, addresses, or similar information may
17 not be considered as having a direct, tangible, and legitimate interest.
18 (4) Upon payment of a fee established in accordance with Section 63-38-3.2, the following
19 records shall be available to the public:
20 (a) except as provided in Section 26-2-10(4)(b), a birth record, excluding confidential
21 information collected for medical and health use, if 100 years or more have passed since the date
22 of birth;
23 (b) a death record if 50 years or more have passed since the date of death; and
24 (c) a vital record not subject to Subsection (4)(a) or (b) if 75 years or more have passed
25 since the date of the event upon which the record is based.


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Legislative Review Note
as of 1-15-98 5:40 PM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

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