The Department of Health (Department) collects and stores all reports of specific vital life events in the state. ?These vital life events include births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, marriage and domestic partnership dissolutions, marriage and domestic partnership annulments, and legal separations. ?The Department retains permanent custody of all vital records in its statewide vital records system. ?The Secretary of Health is in charge of the state vital records and must appoint a state registrar that is responsible for the system's operations and integrity, develop uniform vital statistics reporting requirements and forms for local registrars across the state, review reports, and take measures to prevent the fraudulent use of vital records.

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Vital records are also available in certification and noncertified informational copy forms.? Certifications of death and birth include attestations by the state or local registrar to the accuracy of information and have the full force and effect of the original vital record. ?Noncertified copies are for informational purposes only, may not be used for legal purposes, and in the case of death certificates do not include as much information as the certified version. ?Only qualified applicants that provide the required information and documentation of eligibility may obtain a certification of birth or death. ?The following family members are considered qualified applicants:? the subject of the record's spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, stepparent, stepchild, sibling, grandparent, great grandparent, grandchild, legal guardian, legal representative, or authorized representative. ?

Great grandchildren are added to the types of family members that are considered qualified applicants for purposes of obtaining certifications of birth or death.