69.21 Copies of vital records. (1) CERTIFIED COPIES. (a) 1. Except as provided under subd. 2., the state registrar and any local registrar shall issue a certified copy of a vital record to any person if the person submits a request for a certified copy of a vital record of a specified registrant in writing, if the vital record is enabled for statewide issuance in the state registrar’s electronic system of vital records, to the extent permitted under par. (b) 3., and if the request is accompanied by the fee required under s. 69.22. If a vital record is not enabled for statewide issuance in the state registrar’s electronic system of vital records, the registrar responsible for filing or registration of the vital record may issue a certified copy under this section. 2. The state registrar and any local registrar may not issue any certified copy under subd. 1. of any of the following: a. A vital record, if the event which is the subject of the vital record occurred after September 30, 1907, unless the requester is a person with a direct and tangible interest in the record or unless the registrar has received a court order directing issuance of the vital record. b. Any information of the part of a birth, death, divorce, annulment, or marriage record, the disclosure of which is limited under s. 69.20 (2) (a) and (c), unless the requester is the subject of the information or, for a decedent, unless the requester is specified in s. 69.20 (2) (a) 2. c. The birth record of a person if no surname has been entered on the birth record for the person under s. 69.14 (1) (f). (b) 1. Any copy of a vital record certified under par. (a) shall be on a form provided or approved by the state registrar and shall include the date of issuance, the name of the issuing officer, the issuing officer’s signature or an authorized facsimile of his or her signature and the seal of the issuing officer. The certification shall be applied to the copy in a way that prevents its removal from the copy. 2. Any copy of a birth record issued under par. (a) shall be in a long or short form, as specified by the person submitting the request under par. (a). The long form shall include the name, sex, date and place of birth and parent’s surnames of the registrant, the file date and the file number. The short form may not include any information about the parents of the registrant. The state registrar shall issue the short form for any registrant born of unmarried parents if the registrant’s record was not prepared under s. 69.15 (3) (b), unless the person requesting the copy requests the long form. 3. A local registrar may issue a copy of a record of birth, death, divorce, termination of domestic partnership, marriage, or a declaration of domestic partnership under par. (a) through the state system of vital records if it is enabled. 4. A copy of a death record issued under par. (a) for a death that occurred before September 1, 2013, shall include the name, sex, date and place of death, age or birth date, cause and manner of death, and social security number, if any, of the decedent, and the file number and the file date of the record, except that a requester may, upon request, obtain a copy that does not include the cause of death. 5. A copy of a death record issued under par. (a) for a death
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that occurs after August 31, 2013, shall be on a form that contains only fact-of-death information specified in s. 69.18 (1m) (a), except that a requester may, upon request, obtain a form that contains extended fact-of-death information specified in s. 69.18 (1m) (b). (c) Any certified copy of a vital record or part of a vital record issued under this subsection shall be deemed the same as the original vital record and shall be prima facie evidence of any fact stated in the vital record, except that the evidentiary value of a vital record filed more than one year after the event which is the subject of the vital record occurred or of a vital record which has been amended shall be determined by the judicial or administrative agency or official before whom the vital record is offered as evidence. (2) UNCERTIFIED COPIES. (a) The state registrar or local registrar shall issue an uncertified copy of the vital record of one or more registrants if the subject of the vital record is an event occurring after September 30, 1907. The requirements of ss. 69.15 (6) (b) and 69.20 (3) (b) for disclosing information under s. 69.20 (1) and (2) shall apply to issuance under this paragraph of any copy of a vital record containing such information. Any uncertified copy issued under this paragraph shall have on its face a notice that it is uncertified. (b) The state registrar and any local registrar shall issue an uncertified copy of the vital record of one or more registrants, whether specified or not, to any person if the subject of the vital record is an event occurring before October 1, 1907, and if the person submits a request for the copy in writing to the registrar responsible for filing or registering the vital record and if the request is accompanied by the fee required under s. 69.22 (1) (b). (d) 1. An uncertified photocopy of a vital record for an event occurring before October 1, 1907, other than a vital record held by the state registrar and any local registrar, shall be stamped “NOT FOR IDENTITY PURPOSES” across its face and is subject to this paragraph but is not otherwise subject to the limitations of this section or the requirements of s. 69.22. 3. The holder of the vital record from which uncertified photocopies may be made and issued under this paragraph may establish fees for the photocopies. (3) AMENDMENTS. Any copy of a vital record issued under this section shall show all amendments or changes made on the record since it was filed, the date and authority of the amendment or change unless a record was issued for the registrant under s. 69.14 (1) (h) or 69.15 (2), (3) or (4) (b). (4) DETERMINATION OF FRAUD. (a) Except as provided under par. (b), if the state registrar or a local registrar determines that a vital record was registered through misrepresentation or fraud, he or she may not issue any copy of the vital record prior to a determination by a court of the actual facts of the event which is the subject of the record. (b) A person with a direct and tangible interest in a vital record withheld by the state registrar under par. (a) may petition the circuit court of the county in which the event which is the subject of the vital record is shown on the original record to have occurred. The petition shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the original vital record. In issuing the certified copy, the state registrar shall mark the copy to indicate that the copy is for use by the court in making its determination under this paragraph. If the court finds that the petitioner has proven that the information on the vital record is valid, the clerk of court shall report the court’s determination to the state registrar in the manner prescribed by the state registrar, who shall issue the certified copy. History: 1985 a. 315; 1987 a. 307; 1997 a. 210; 1999 a. 185; 2001 a. 16; 2015 a. 142, 157; 2017 a. 334; 2025 a. 129. Cross-reference: See s. 889.18 for evidence of official records and s. 891.09 for evidence of vital statistics.
COLLECTION OF STATISTICS
69.22
A local registrar has no power to adopt procedures that are more stringent than those directed by the state registrar for issuing certified copies of a vital record under sub. (1). 80 Atty. Gen. 35.
69.22 Fees. (1) Except as provided in sub. (6), the state registrar and any local registrar acting under this subchapter shall collect the following fees: (a) Except as provided under par. (c), $20 for issuing one certified copy of a vital record and $3 for any additional certified copy of the same vital record issued at the same time. (b) Except as provided under par. (c), $20 for issuing an uncertified copy of a vital record issued under s. 69.21 (2) (a) or (b), $7 for verifying information about the event submitted by a requester without issuance of a copy, and $3 for any additional copy of the same vital record issued at the same time. (c) Twenty dollars for issuing an uncertified copy of a birth record or a certified copy of a birth record, and $3 for issuing any additional certified or uncertified copy of the same birth record issued at the same time. (cm) Ten dollars for issuing one certified copy of a birth record resulting in stillbirth and $3 for any additional certified copy of the same record issued at the same time. (d) In addition to other fees under this subchapter, $20 for expedited service in issuing a vital record. (1m) The state registrar and any local registrar acting under this subchapter shall, for each copy of a birth record for which a fee under sub. (1) (c) is charged that is issued during a calendar quarter, forward to the secretary of administration for deposit in the appropriation accounts under s. 20.433 (1) (g) and (h) $7 by the 15th day of the first month following the end of the calendar quarter. (1q) The state registrar and any local registrar acting under this subchapter shall forward to the secretary of administration for deposit in the appropriation account under s. 20.435 (1) (gm) all of the following: (a) For any certified copy of a vital record for which a fee of $20 under sub. (1) (a) is charged, $13. (b) For any uncertified copy of a vital record for which a fee of $20 under sub. (1) (b) is charged, $13. (c) For any copy of a birth certificate for which a fee of $20 under sub. (1) (c) is charged, $8. (d) For expedited service in issuing a vital record, $10. (2) The state registrar and any local registrar may charge $7 for a search of vital records if the registrar finds no record. In addition to the $7, a registrar may charge a fee to cover the costs of a search of vital records if the requester provides no identifying information or identifying information which is imprecise or inadequate. (3) If a local registrar under s. 69.11 (4) or 69.14 (2) (b) 6. completes the proper forms for the applicant and submits the forms and proofs to the office of the state registrar, the state registrar and the register of deeds shall receive equal amounts of the fee received for the action. (5) The state registrar shall collect the following fees: (a) Ten dollars for: 1. Making any change under s. 69.11 (4). 2. Making any change ordered by a court under s. 69.12 (3) or 69.15 (4) (a). 3. Making any change in a birth record under s. 69.15 (3). (b) Twenty dollars for: 1. Any new vital record registered under s. 69.12 (4), 69.14 (2) (b), 69.15 (2), (3m), (4) (b), or (6), 69.16 (2), or 69.19, or any corrected vital record registered under s. 69.13. 2. The filing of a birth record under s. 69.14 (2) (b) 5. The
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69.22
COLLECTION OF STATISTICS
fee under this subdivision includes the search for the birth record and the first copy of the certificate except that the state registrar shall add to the $20 fee, $5. (c) The state registrar may charge a reasonable fee to adequately cover the cost of specialized data collection and data production for research or administrative data requested under s. 69.20. (6) The state registrar may charge a reasonable fee for providing searches of vital records and for providing copies of vital records to state agencies for program use. The register of deeds may provide free searches and free copies to agencies in his or her county at the direction of the county board. History: 1985 a. 315; 1985 a. 332 s. 253; 1987 a. 27; 1991 a. 39; 1993 a. 16, 27; 1995 a. 27; 1997 a. 191, 210; 2001 a. 16, 106; 2003 a. 33, 300; 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 28; 2017 a. 334.