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Archiver > IOWA > 2000-02 > 0949610170
From: Richard Harrison <>
Subject: [IOWA] IOWA BIRTH RECORDS TO CLOSE
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 12:36:10 -0800
The Iowa State Department of Health, Vital Records Division, would like
to see all birth records less than 95 years old closed to the public at
the county level and have drafted a bill to this effect to be taken up
by the legislature. According to Larry Coghlan of the Vital Records
Dept., "The proposal is to make birth certificates 95 years old and
older available for inspection and copying at the county level. The rest
of the birth certificates would require a direct and tangible interest
to obtain a copy. It is being proposed because of the identity theft
(fraud) that has been taking place throughout the United States."
This proposal raises a number of questions: Is it really necessary to
close 95 years of records to address this problem? How will moving the
records from the county level to the state level make it any more (or
less) difficult for people interested in committing fraud? How will they
define "direct and tangible interest"? Will state employees have the
time and inclination to REALLY search the records for your ancestor, or
will they keep the money and say "Not Found!" when the record is not
exactly where it should be but just a few lines or pages away? Can they
take the time to search for possible misspellings or decipher illegible
handwriting? If ISDH gets this passed for birth records will all the
other records will follow suit? Is this an ill-conceived plan to punish
the innocent (genealogists and others who need access to these records)
instead of the guilty (those who commit fraud)?
We need to ask questions, now. If you cherish your right to have all
your county records available at your county courthouse, now is the time
to speak up. WRITE CALL EMAIL your county officials, state
representative, and yes, even Governor Vilsack. If you dont speak up
now, it might be too late.
CONTACT INFORMATION
The Honorable Governor Vilsack
Mailing Address:Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone or Fax:(515) 281-5211 (515) phone :: 281-6611 fax
Email the Governor:
http://www.state.ia.us/governor/comments/capitol_correspond/index.html
The web page below has links to District Maps and to the emails of all
the Iowa Senators and Representatives. Send an email to the ones
representing your county of interest:
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Members/78GA-members.html.
I will post the bill number and the names of committee members as soon
as that information is available.
-Richard
--
Richard Harrison/Encinitas, San Diego, California
IAGenWeb State Coord.: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iagenweb/index.htm
IAGEN-L List Owner:
IOWA-L List Owner:
Jones Co. IAGenWeb Coord.: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iajones/index.htm
Jones Co. List Owner:
Richard's Genealogy: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~richar
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