Title HS, Health and Safety Code

Sec. 191.023. CONSOLIDATION OF COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL MAINTENANCE OF BIRTH AND DEATH RECORDS. (a) The duties imposed by law relating to the maintenance of birth and death records of a municipality with a population of 2,500 or more may be transferred to the county in which the muni…

Sec. 191.024. REPORTS OF INFORMATION. (a) On the state registrar's demand, a person, including a local registrar, physician, midwife, or funeral director, who has information relating to a birth, death, or fetal death shall supply the information to the state registrar in person,…

Sec. 191.025. RECORD BOOKS AND CERTIFICATES. (a) Forms for the registration of births, deaths, and fetal deaths must be approved by the department. (b) A municipality shall supply its local registrar, and each county shall supply the county clerk, with permanent record books for …

Sec. 191.026. LOCAL RECORDS. (a) The local registrar shall secure a complete record of each birth, death, and fetal death that occurs in the local registrar's jurisdiction. (b) The local registrar shall consecutively number birth and death certificates in separate series, beginni…

Sec. 191.027. REVIEW OF CERTIFICATE BY LOCAL REGISTRAR. (a) The local registrar shall carefully examine each birth or death certificate when presented for registration to determine if it is completed as required by this title and by the state registrar's instructions. (b) If a de…

Sec. 191.028. AMENDMENT OF CERTIFICATE. (a) A record of a birth, death, or fetal death accepted by a local registrar for registration may not be changed except as provided by Subsection (b). (b) An amending certificate may be filed to complete or correct a record that is incomple…

Sec. 191.029. CERTIFICATES OR REPORT SENT TO STATE REGISTRAR. On the 10th day of each month, the local registrar shall send to the state registrar: (1) the original certificates that the local registrar registered during the preceding month; or (2) a report of no births or deaths…

Sec. 191.031. REVIEW OF CERTIFICATES BY STATE REGISTRAR. (a) The state registrar shall carefully examine the certificates received monthly from the local registrars. (b) The state registrar shall require additional information to make the record complete and satisfactory if neces…

Sec. 191.032. STATE RECORDS. (a) The state registrar shall arrange, bind, and permanently preserve birth, death, and fetal death certificates in a systematic manner. (b) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section. Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 67…

Sec. 191.033. ADDENDA. (a) The state registrar may attach to the original record an addendum that sets out any information received by the state registrar that may contradict the information in a birth, death, or fetal death record required to be maintained in the vital statistic…

Sec. 191.034. NOTATION OF DEATH ON BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a) On receipt of the death certificate of a person whose birth is registered in this state, the state registrar shall conspicuously note the person's date of death on the person's birth certificate. (b) The state registrar sh…

Sec. 191.036. SPANISH SURNAME INFORMATION. (a) The purpose of this section is to: (1) enable this state to participate in a study being conducted by a group of southwestern states to obtain information about the birth rates and mortality patterns of persons with Spanish surnames;…

Sec. 191.051. CERTIFIED COPIES. (a) Subject to department rules controlling the accessibility of vital records, the state registrar shall supply to a properly qualified applicant, on request, a certified copy of a record, or part of a record, of a birth, death, or fetal death reg…

Sec. 191.052. CERTIFIED COPY AS EVIDENCE. A copy of a birth, death, or fetal death record registered under this title that is certified by the state registrar is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the record. Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 191.056. COPIES COLLECTED BY NATIONAL AGENCY. (a) The national agency in charge of the collection of vital statistics may obtain, without expense to the state, transcripts of vital records without payment of the fees prescribed by this chapter. (b) The department may contrac…

Sec. 191.057. RECORDS WITH ADDENDA. (a) In this section: (1) "Copy" means a reproduction of a record made by any means. (2) "Local registration official" means a county clerk or a person authorized by this title to maintain a duplicate system of records for each birth, death, or …

Sec. 191.071. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIRED. (a) A person may not access vital records maintained by the department under this chapter and may not access the department's vital records electronic registration system unless the department, or another person acting on behalf o…

Sec. 192.001. REGISTRATION REQUIRED. The birth of each child born in this state shall be registered. Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 192.002. FORM OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a) The department shall prescribe the form and contents of the birth certificate. (b) The section of the birth certificate entitled "For Medical and Health Use Only" is not part of the legal birth certificate. Information held by the depa…

Sec. 192.0021. HEIRLOOM BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a) The department shall promote and sell copies of an heirloom birth certificate. The department shall solicit donated designs for the certificate from Texas artists and select the best donated designs for the form of the certificate. A…

Sec. 192.0022. CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH RESULTING IN STILLBIRTH. (a) In this section: (1) "Stillbirth" means an unintended, intrauterine fetal death occurring in this state after a gestational age of not less than 20 completed weeks. (2) "Certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth"…

Sec. 192.003. BIRTH CERTIFICATE FILED OR BIRTH REPORTED. (a) The physician, midwife, or person acting as a midwife in attendance at a birth shall file the birth certificate with the local registrar of the registration district in which the birth occurs. (b) If a birth occurs in a…

Sec. 192.0031. INFORMATION OF BIRTH TO SCHOOL-AGE MOTHER. (a) Notwithstanding Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, the department shall notify the commissioner of education of each birth to a school-age mother. The commissioner may notify the school district in which a sch…

Sec. 192.004. INFORMATION OBTAINED BY LOCAL REGISTRAR. (a) The local registrar shall obtain the information necessary to prepare the birth certificate from the person reporting a birth or from another person with the required knowledge if: (1) the birth is reported under Section …

Sec. 192.005. RECORD OF PATERNITY. (a) The items on a birth certificate relating to the child's father shall be completed only if: (1) the child's mother was married to the father: (A) at the time of the child's conception; (B) at the time of the child's birth; or (C) after the c…

Sec. 192.0051. REPORT OF DETERMINATION OF PATERNITY. (a) A report of each determination of paternity in this state shall be filed with the state registrar. (b) On a determination of paternity, the petitioner shall provide the clerk of the court in which the decree was granted wit…

Sec. 192.006. SUPPLEMENTARY BIRTH CERTIFICATES. (a) A supplementary birth certificate may be filed if the person who is the subject of the certificate: (1) becomes the child of the person's father by the subsequent marriage of the person's parents; (2) has the person's parentage …

Sec. 192.007. SUPPLEMENTARY CERTIFICATES FOR CHILD WHO DIES BEFORE ADOPTION. (a) If a child in the process of being adopted in this state dies before the adoption is completed, the persons who attempted to adopt the child may request the state registrar to file supplementary birt…

Sec. 192.008. BIRTH RECORDS OF ADOPTED PERSON. (a) The supplementary birth certificate of an adopted child must be in the names of the adoptive parents, one of whom must be a female, named as the mother, and the other of whom must be a male, named as the father. This subsection d…

Sec. 192.009. CERTIFICATE OF ADOPTION, ANNULMENT OF ADOPTION, OR REVOCATION OF ADOPTION. (a) A certificate of each adoption, annulment of adoption, and revocation of adoption decreed in this state shall be filed with the state registrar. (b) When a petition for adoption, annulmen…

Sec. 192.010. CHANGE OF NAME. (a) Subject to department rules, an adult whose name is changed by court order, or the legal representative of any person whose name is changed by court order, may request that the state registrar attach an amendment showing the change to the person'…

Sec. 192.011. AMENDING BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a) This section applies to an amending birth certificate that is filed under Section 191.028 and that completes or corrects information relating to the person's sex, color, or race. (b) On the request of the person or the person's legal …

Sec. 192.012. RECORD OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY. (a) If the mother of a child is not married to the father of the child, a person listed in Section 192.003 who is responsible for filing the birth certificate shall: (1) provide an opportunity for the child's mother and putativ…

Sec. 192.021. DELAY LESS THAN ONE YEAR. (a) A birth that occurred more than five days but less than one year before the date of an application for registration may be recorded on a birth certificate and submitted for filing to the local registrar of the registration district in w…

Sec. 192.022. DELAY OF ONE YEAR OR MORE: APPLICATION FILED WITH STATE REGISTRAR. Subject to department rules, an application to file a delayed birth certificate for a birth in this state not registered before the one-year anniversary of the date of birth shall be made to the stat…

Sec. 192.023. DELAY OF MORE THAN ONE BUT LESS THAN FOUR YEARS. (a) A birth that occurred at least one year but less than four years before the date of the application for registration shall be recorded on a birth certificate in the form prescribed by the state registrar and submi…

Sec. 192.024. DELAY OF FOUR YEARS OR MORE. (a) A birth that occurred four or more years before the date of the application for registration shall be recorded on a form entitled "Delayed Certificate of Birth." The department shall prescribe and furnish the form. (b) The form shall…

Sec. 192.025. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. (a) The state registrar shall accept an application under Section 192.024 if the applicant's statement of date and place of birth and parentage is established to the state registrar's satisfaction by the evidence required by this section. (b) T…

Sec. 192.026. REJECTION OR RETURN OF APPLICATION. (a) The state registrar may not register a delayed birth certificate if: (1) the applicant does not submit the documentary evidence required by Section 192.025; or (2) the state registrar finds reason to question the validity or a…

Sec. 192.027. REGISTRATION BY JUDICIAL ORDER. (a) If a delayed birth certificate is not accepted for registration by the state registrar, the person may file a petition in the statutory probate court or district court in the county in which the birth occurred, or in the statutory…

Sec. 192.028. APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY AD LITEM. A judge of a statutory probate court or district court may appoint an attorney ad litem in a proceeding under Section 192.027 to represent the interests of the person seeking the delayed birth certificate. Added by Acts 2015, 84th L…

Sec. 192.029. REFUSAL TO SIGN AFFIDAVIT OF PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE. (a) A parent of a person who is seeking a delayed birth certificate under this subchapter shall sign an affidavit of personal knowledge acknowledging that the individual is the parent of the person seeking the delayed…

Sec. 193.001. FORM OF CERTIFICATE. (a) The department shall prescribe the form and contents of death certificates and fetal death certificates. (a-1) In prescribing each form under Subsection (a), the department shall ensure that the form instructs the person required to file the…

Sec. 193.002. PERSON REQUIRED TO FILE. The person in charge of interment or in charge of removal of a body from a registration district for disposition shall: (1) obtain and file the death certificate or fetal death certificate; (2) enter on the certificate the information relati…

Sec. 193.0025. EXPEDITED DEATH CERTIFICATES FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES IN CERTAIN COUNTIES. Text of subsection effective until April 01, 2027 (a) This section applies only to a county: (1) with an office of medical examiner established in accordance with Section 1, Article 49.25, Cod…

Sec. 193.003. TIME AND PLACE FOR FILING DEATH CERTIFICATE. (a) Not later than the 10th day after the date of a death that occurs in this state, a death certificate shall be filed with the local registrar of the registration district in which: (1) the death occurs; or (2) the body…