GIFT OF 
 
 
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 '•i,'^ 
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 3061 U'NYr'Ud 
 
FEB 18 191C 
 
 CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 
 
 " BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS 
 
 Vital Statistics 
 Registration Law 
 
 CALIFORNIA STATK PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 SACRAMENTO 
 
 19 17 
 
 orm 1. 5-17-5111—30047 
 
, K' 
 
 
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 OUTLINE. 
 Registration Law of 1915, as Amended in 1917. 
 
 State bureau of vital statistics. State registrar and assistants. 
 Authority of state registrar under state board of health. 
 Each city a registration district. Provision for rural districts. 
 City registrar the clerk or health officer (in chartered city). Rural 
 registrars appointed for four-year terms. County records. Deputy 
 registrars. Subregistrars. 
 Permit from local registrar before burial or other disposition of dead body. 
 Stillborn child registered as birth and also as death. 
 Certificate of death. Contents. Duty of physician last in attendance. 
 Death without medical attendance certified to by coroner. 
 Undertaker responsible for filing certificate of death. 
 Burial or transit permit valid anywhere in state. 
 Duty of sexton or other person in charge of cemetery. 
 Registration of each birth peremptorily required. 
 
 Birth certificate to be filed within thirty-six hours by attending physician 
 or midwife. Additional report, within ten days by father or mother, 
 householder, or institution manager or superintendent. 
 Certificate of birth. Contents. 
 Supplemental report of given name of child. 
 
 Physicians, midwives and undertakers to register with local registrars. 
 Hospital and institution superintendents or inanagers to keep records of 
 
 inmates for filling out of birth and death certificates. 
 State registrar to prepare and distribute forms and blanks. Additional local 
 record for residents of cities of 2,500 population, who may die or have 
 child born in another registration district. 
 Sec. 18«. Correction of record made upon authority of affidavits by filing amended 
 
 certificate. Preservation and indexing of records. 
 Sec. 19. Duties of local registrar. Supply blanks, examine certificates, keep copies, 
 
 transmit originals. 
 Sec. 20. Fee of local registrar. Quarterly certification to county treasurer by state 
 
 registrar. 
 Sec. 21. Certified copies of searches of records for fifty cent fee. Disposition of 
 
 funds. 
 Sec. 21&. Superior court procedure for establishing fact of birth or death or marriage 
 
 not registered within one year of occurrence of event. 
 Sec. 22. Penalty provisions against any violation of registration law. Fine or 
 
 imprisonment, or both. 
 Sec. 23. Local registrar to enforce law under supervision of state registrar. 
 
 Prosecutions at instance of state board of health or secretary. 
 Sec. 24. Repealing clause. 
 
 Additional Provisions Relating to Marriages. 
 
 Civil Code § 69a. Certificate of marriage to be filled out in presence of county clerk 
 
 issuing marriage license. 
 Pol. Code § 3074. State bureau of vital statistics. Duty of state registrar. 
 I'ol. Code § 3076. Certificate of marriage. Contents. To be filed by person 
 
 performing ceremony within three days thereafter. 
 Pol. Code § 3078. Duty of county recorder. Examine certificates, keep copies, 
 
 transmit originals. 
 Pol. Code § 3079. Fee of county recorder. Quarterly certification by state registrar. 
 Pol. Code § 3082. Penalty for failure to perform duty. 
 
 369777 
 
An act to provide a central hnrcau for the preservation of records of marriar/cs, 
 births and deaths, and to provide for the registration of all births and deaths, 
 the establishment of registration districts under the superintendence of the state 
 bureau of vital statistics; the issuance and registration of burial and disinterment 
 permits and certificates of births and deaths; the appointment of state and 
 local registrars of vital statistics; to prescribe the poivers and duties of regis- 
 trars, coroners, phi/sician^, undertakers, sextons and other persons in relation to 
 such registration and to fi-r penalties for violation of this act; to create the 
 officers of state and local registrars of vital statistics, to provide for the salary 
 and fees of same; to repeal all acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith. 
 
 The people of the State of California do enact as follows: 
 
 State bureau of vital statistics. State registrar and assistants. 
 
 Section 1. The state board of health shall maintain a bureau of vital statistics 
 which shall have charge of such matters and shall have such powers as may from 
 time to time be referred and delegated to it by the state board of health. The board 
 shall appoint a state registrar who. by virtue of his office, shall be director of the 
 bureau of vital statistics. His salary shall be two thousand four hundred dollars per 
 annum. The state registrar shall be a competent vital statistician. lie shall have 
 general supervision and control over the bureau of vital statistics. He shall devote 
 his entire time to the duties of his office and shall not engage in any other occupation 
 or business. The board shall appoint also a deputy statistician, whose salary shall 
 be one thousand six hundred dollars per annum, and two copyists, each of whom 
 shall receive a salary of nine hundred dollars per annum. All such salaries shall be 
 paid in the same manner and at the same time as the salaries of state officers. The 
 state board of health may appoint and fix the compensation of such other additional 
 professional and clerical assistants as may be necessary for the purposes of this act, 
 but such compensation shall be paid from its fund for contingent expenses, as 
 provided in the general appropriation act. As soon as practicable the custodian of 
 the capitol shall provide for the bureau of vital statistics in the state capitol at 
 Sacramento, suitable offices, which shall be properly equipped with fireproof vault 
 and filing cases for the permanent and safe preservation of all official records made 
 and returned under this act. \As amended, 1917.] 
 
 Authority of state registrar under state board of liealth. 
 
 Sec. 2. The state registrar shall under the direction of the state board of health 
 have charge of the registration of births, deaths, and marriages, shall prepare forms 
 and blanks with instructions for obtaining and preserving such records and shall 
 procure the faithful registration of the same in each primary registration district as 
 constituted in section three of this act, and in the bureau of vital statistics of the 
 state board of health at the capital of the state. The said board shall be charged 
 with the uniform and thorough enforcement of the law throughout the state, and 
 shall promulgate any additional regulations. [As amended. 1917.] 
 
 Each city a registration district. Provision for rural districts. 
 
 Sec. 3. For the purposes of this act the state shall be divided into registration 
 districts as follows : each city and county, city and incorporated town, shall constitute 
 a primary registration district : and each county, exclusive of the cities and incor- 
 porated towns therein, may be subdivided by the state registrar into a sufficient 
 number of primary rural registration districts, the boundaries of which he shall define 
 and which he may alter, combine, or subdivide from time to time as may be necessaiy 
 to promote efficient and convenient registration of all births and deaths. [.4s 
 amended. 1917.] 
 
 City registrar the clerl< or health officer (in chartered city). Rural registrars 
 appointed for four-year terms. County records. Deputy registrars. 
 Subregistrars. 
 
 Sec. 4. The clerk of each city and county, city and incorporated town, shall be 
 the local registrar in and for such primary registration district and shall perform 
 all such duties of local registrar as hereinafter provided : provided, hon-evcr, that 
 in cities having a freeholders' charter, the health officer may act as local registrar 
 
— G — 
 
 and perform all the duti»>s tluMeof. The state roRistrar. subject to the approval of 
 the state hoard of health or its secretary, shall appoint a local registrar for each 
 primary rural district whose term of office shall be four years, and whom the state 
 registrar may remove forthwith for failure or neglect to i)erform his duty as pre- 
 scribed by this act. Each local registrar for a priniarj- rural district, besides trans- 
 mitting to the state registrar each original birth and d<'ath certificate registered by 
 him and besides retaining a complete and accurate copy of each such birth and death 
 certificate for the local record of the primary rural district as required by section 
 nineteen of this act. shall also transmit to the reconler of the county for a Kpecial 
 county record a complete and accurate copy of each original birth and death cer- 
 tificate transmitted by said local registrar to the state registrar; provided, further, 
 that in accordance with sections three thousand seventy-six. three thousand seventy- 
 eight, and three thousand seventy-nine of the Political Code, the county recorder shall 
 be the sole local registrar for marriages performed anywhere in the county. Each 
 local registrar shall immediately appoint a deputy in writing, whose duty it shall 
 be to act in his stead in case of his absence or disability : and such deputy shall in 
 writing accept such appointment, and be subject to all rules and regulations governing 
 local registrars. And when it appears necessary for the convenience of the people 
 in any registration district, the local registrar is hereby authorized, with the approval 
 of the state registrar, to appoint one or more suitable persons to act as subregistrars, 
 who shall be authorized to receive certificates and to issue burial or removal permits 
 in and for such portions of the district as may be designated ; and each subregistrar 
 shall note, on each certificate, over his signature, the date of filing, and shall forth- 
 with forward all certificates to the local registrar of the district, and in all cases 
 before the third day of the following month ; provided, that each subregistrar shall be 
 subject to the supervision and control of the state registrar, and may be by him 
 removed for neglect or failure to perform his duty in accordance with the provisions 
 of this act or the rules and regulations of the state registrar, and shall be subject 
 to the same penalties for neglect of duty as the local registrar. [As aviended. 1017.] 
 
 Permit from local registrar before burial or other disposition of dead body. 
 
 Sec. a. The body of any pei-son whose death occurs in this state, or which 
 shall be found dead therein or which shall be brought in from outside the state, shall 
 not be interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated, disinterred* or otherwise 
 disposed of. or removed from or into any registration district, or be temporarily held 
 pending further disposition more than seventy-two hours after death, unless a permit 
 for burial, removal, or other disposition thereof shall have been properly issued by 
 the local registrar of the registration district in which the death occurred or the 
 body was found; provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent an 
 undertaker from removing a bo<ly from the registration district where the death 
 occurred or the body was found to a contiguous registration district in the same or 
 an adjoining county in an undertaker's conveyance for the purpo.se of preparing said 
 body for burial or shipment. A removal permit must be secured within forty-eight 
 hours and before emlialniing the body. No body where death occurred from any 
 disease held by the state i)oard of health to be infectious, contagious or communicable 
 and dangerous to the public health shall be removed without first securing a removal 
 I)ermit in the manner i)rovided in section nineteen of this act. And no such burial or 
 removal permit shall he issued by any registrar until, wherever practicable, a com- 
 j)lete and satisfactory certificate of death has been filed with him as hereinafter 
 provided; provided, that when a dead Imdy is transimrted from outside the state into 
 a registration district in f'alifurnia fur burial, tiie transit or removal permit, issued 
 in accordance with the law and heallii regulations of the place where the death 
 occurred, shall be accepted by tlie local registrar of the district into which the body 
 has been trans|K>ited for imrial r)r other disposition, as a basis upon which he may 
 issue a local burial permit, noting ui>on the face of the burial permit the fact that it 
 was a body shipped in for interment, and giving the actual i)lace of death; and no 
 local registrar shall receive any fee for the issuance of burial or removal permits 
 under this act other tliiiii the compensation provided in section twenty. [A$ 
 amended, 1917.] 
 
 Stillborn child registered as birth and also as death. 
 
 Skc. <). A stillborn child shall be registered as a birth and also as a death, and 
 separate certificates of both the birth and the death shall be filed with the local 
 
 •NoTK— Kor additional local disinterment rogulatloii.s see Oeneral I.iiws, Act 646, 
 approved April 1, 1878, and amended. Statutes I'.ilT. Cliapter 37. 
 
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 registrar, iu the usual form and manner, the certificate of birth to contain in place 
 of the name of the child, the word "stillbirth" : provided, that a certificate of birth 
 and a certificate of death shall not be required for a child that has not advanced 
 to the fifth month of uterogestation. The medical certificate of the cause of death 
 shall be signed by the attending physician, if any, and shall state the cause of death 
 as "stillborn." with the cause of the stillbirth, if known, whether a premature birth, 
 and. if born prematurely, the period of uterogestation. in months, if known ; and a 
 burial or removal permit of the prescribed form shall be I'equired. Midwives shall 
 not sign certificates of death for stillborn children ; but such cases, and stillbirths 
 occurring without attendance of either physician or midwife, shall be treated as 
 deaths without medical attendance, as provided for in section eight of this act. [As 
 enacted, 1915.] 
 
 Certificate of death. Contents. Duty of physician last in attendance. 
 
 Sec. 7. The certificate of death shall contain the following items, which are 
 hereby declared to be necessary for the legal, social, and sanitary pui'poses subserved 
 by registration records : 
 
 (1) Place of death, including state, county, township, village or city. If in a 
 city, the ward, street, and house number : if in a hospital or other institution, the 
 name of the same to be given instead of the street and house number. If in an 
 industrial camp, the name of the camp to be given. 
 
 (2) Full name of decedent. If an unnamed child, the surname preceded by 
 "unnamed." 
 
 (3) Sex. 
 
 (4) Color or race — as white, black, mulatto (or other Negro descent), Indian, 
 Chinese. Japanese, or other. 
 
 (5) Conjugal condition — as single, married, widowed or divorced, 
 (oa) Husband of 
 
 (oft) Wife of 
 
 (0) Date of birth, including the year, month, and day. 
 
 (7) Age. in years, months and days. If less than one day, the hours or minutes. 
 
 (8) Occupation. The occupation to be reported of any person, male or female, 
 who had any remunerative employment with the statement of (a) trade, profession 
 or particular kind of work; (b) general nature of industry, business or establishment 
 in which employed (or employer). 
 
 (9) Birthplace; at least state or foreign country, if known. 
 
 (10) Name of father. 
 
 (11) Birthplace of father; at least state or foreign country, if known. 
 
 (12) Maiden name of mother. 
 
 (13) Birthplace of mother; at least state or foreign country, if known. 
 
 (14) Signature and address of informant. 
 
 (15) Official signature of registrar, with the date when certificate was filed, and 
 registered number. 
 
 (16) Date of death, year, month, and day. 
 
 (17) Certification as to medical attendance on decedent, fact and time of death, 
 time last seen alive, and the cause of death, with contributory (secondary) cause of 
 complication, if any, and duration of each, and whether attributed to dangerous or 
 insanitary conditions of employment; signature and address of physician or official 
 making the medical certificate. 
 
 (18) Length of residence (for inmates of hospitals and other institutions; 
 transients or recent residents) at place of death and in California, together with the 
 place where disease was contracted if not at the place of death, and former or usual 
 place of residence (giving city and state of residence). 
 
 (19) Place of burial or removal ; date of burial. 
 
 (20) Signature and 'address of undertaker or person acting as such and license 
 number of embalmer. 
 
 The personal and statistical particulars (items one to thirteen) shall be authen- 
 ticated by the signature of the informant who may be any competent person 
 acquainted with the facts. 
 
 The statement of facts relating to the disposition of the body shall be signed by 
 the undertaker or person acting as such. 
 
 The medical certificate shall be made and signed by the physician, if any, last in 
 attendance on the deceased, and said physician shall within fifteen hours after the 
 death deposit the certificate at the place of death, or deliver it to the attending 
 undertaker at his place of business or at the office of said physician. Said physician 
 
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 shall spocify in the certificate the time in attendance, the time In- last saw the 
 deceased alive and the hour of the day at which death occurred. And lie shall further 
 state the cause of death, so as to show the course of disease or se(juence of causes 
 resulting in the death, jrivinc first the name of the disease causing death (primary 
 cause) and the contributory (secondary) cause, if any. and the duration of each. 
 Indefinite and unsatisfactory terms, denoting only symptoms of disease or conditions 
 resulting from disease, will not be held suflicient for the issuance of a burial or 
 removal permit; and any certificate containing only such terms, as defined by the 
 state registrar, shall be returned to the jjhj-sician or person making the medical 
 certificate for correction and more definite statement. Causes of death which may 
 be the result of either disease or violence shall be carefully defined ; and if from 
 violence, the means of injury shall be stated, and whether (probably) accidental, 
 suicidal, or homicidal. And for deaths of non residents, transients or recent residents 
 in hosj)ita!s or institutions, the physician shall supply the information required 
 under this head (item eighteen), if he is able to do so. and shall state where, in his 
 opinion, the disease was contracted, 'f-l* amended, 1017.1 
 
 Death without medical attendance certified to by coroner. 
 
 Sec. 8. In case of any deatli occurring without medical attendance, or continued 
 absence of the attending physician it shall l)e the duty of the undertaker to notify 
 the coroner or other proper official of such death for investigation and certification. 
 And the coroner or other proper officer whose duty it is to hold an inquest on the 
 body of any deceased person, and to make the certificate of death required for a 
 burial permit, shall state in his certificate the name of the disease caiising deatli, 
 or if from external causes (1) the means of death; and (2) whether (prol>al>ly) 
 accidental, suicidal, or homicidal ; and shall, in any case, furnish such information 
 as may be required by the state registrar in order properly to classify the death. 
 In every case the certificate must contain as many facts required by this act as can 
 be ascertained. [.Is enacted, 1015.] 
 
 Undertaker responsible for filing certificate of death. 
 
 Sec. 0. The undertaker, or person acting as undertaker, shall file the certificate 
 of death with the local registrar of the district in which the death occurred and 
 obtain a burial or removal permit jirior to any disposition of the body. He shall 
 obtain the required personal and statistical particulars from the jierson best qualified 
 to supply them, over the signature and address of his informant. He shall then 
 present the certificate to the attending physician, if any. or to the coroner or other 
 proper official either directly or as directed by the local registrar, for the medical 
 certificate of the cause of death and other particulars necessary to complete the 
 record, as specified in sections .seven and eight. And he shall then state the facts 
 required relative to the date and place of burial or removal, over his signature and 
 with his address, and |)re.sent the completed certificate to the local registrar in order 
 to obtain a jM-rmit for Imrial. removal or other disi)Osition of the bmly. The under- 
 taker shall deliver the burial |>('rinit to tln> i»erson in charge of the ]ilace of burial, 
 before interring or otherwise disjiosing of the body; or shall attach the removal 
 permit to the box containing the coriise, when shii^ped by any transjiortation com- 
 pany; said permit to accompany the corpse to its destination, where, if within the 
 State of California, it shall be delivered to the person in charge of the place of burial. 
 
 Every jierson. firm, or cor|Hiration selling a casket shall keeji a record showing 
 the name of the purchaser, luirdiaser's post-oflice address, name of deceased, date 
 of death, and i)lace of death of deceased, which record shall be oi)en to inspection 
 of the state registrar at all times. On the first day of each month the person, firm, 
 or cor[)oration .selling caskets shall rejiort to the state registrar each sale for the 
 preceding month, on a blank provided for that jiurpose ; prmUUd. Iioirrn r. that no 
 I)erson, firm or coriioration selling caskets to dealers or undertakers only shall be 
 required to keep siicli record, nor shall such report 1m> reciuired fmni undertakers when 
 they have direct charge of the disposition of a dea<l body. 
 
 Every jierson, firm, or corporation selling a casket at retail, and not having charge 
 of the disposition of the body, shall inclose within the casket a notice furnished by 
 the stale registrar calling attention to the reciuirenients of the law. a blank certificate 
 of death, and the rules and regulations of tlie state board of health concerning the 
 burial or other disiiosition of a dead bo<ly. \Ah (nacUd, lOl.'i. ] 
 
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 Burial or transit permit valid anywhere In state. 
 
 Sec. 10. If the intermeut, or othor disposition of the body is to be made within 
 the state, the wording of the burial or removal permit may be limited to a statement 
 by the registrar, and over his signature, that a satisfactoi-y certificate of death 
 having been filed with him. as required by law. permission is granted to inter, remove, 
 or dispose otherwise of the body, stating the name, age, sex, cause of death, and 
 other necessary details upon the form prescribed by the state registrar; provided, 
 that the transit permit prescribed by the state board of embalmers may be used in 
 lieu of said burial or removal permit. [An amended, 1917.] 
 
 Duty of sexton or other person in charge of cemetery. 
 
 Sec. 11. No person in charge of any premises on which interments are made 
 shall inter or permit the interment or other disposition of any body unless it is 
 accompanied by a burial, removal or transit permit, as herein provided. And such 
 person shall indorse upon the permit the date of interment, over his signature, and 
 shall return all permits so indorsed to the local registrar of his district within ten 
 days from the date of interment. He shall keep a record of all bodies interred or 
 otherwise disposed of on the premises under his charge, in each case stating the name 
 of each deceased person, place of death, date of burial or disposal, and name and 
 address of the undertaker ; which record shall at all times be open to official inspec- 
 tion ; provided, that the undertaker or person acting as such, when burying a body 
 in a cemetery or burial ground having no person in charge, shall sign the burial 
 or removal permit, giving the date of burial, and shall write across the face of the 
 permit the words "No person in charge." and file the burial or removal permit within 
 ten days with the registrar of the district in which the cemetery is located. [.l.s 
 enacted, 1915.] 
 
 Registration of each birth peremptorily required. 
 
 Sec. 12. The birth of each and every child born in this state shall be registered 
 as hereinafter provided. [As enacted, 1915.] 
 
 Birth certificate to be filed within thirty-six hours by attending physician or midwife. 
 Additional report within ten days by father or mother, householder, or institution 
 manager or superintendent. 
 
 Sec. 13. Within thirty-six hours after the date of each birth, there shall be filed 
 with the local registrar of the district in which the birth occurred a certificate of 
 such birtli, which certificate shall be upon the form adopted by the state board of 
 health with a view to procuring a full and accurate report with respect to each item 
 of information enumerated in section fourteen of this act. 
 
 In sparsely-settled districts or where there is no direct mail communication with 
 the county seat a reasonable time shall be fixed by the local registrar. 
 
 In each case where a physician, or midwife, or person acting as midwife, was in 
 attendance upon the birth, it shall be the duty of such physician to file in accordance 
 herewith the certificate herein contemplated. 
 
 In case no physician was in attendance it shall be the duty of the midwife or 
 pereon acting as midwife to file such certificate. 
 
 In every case it shall be the duty of the father or mother of the child, the 
 householder or owner of the premises where the birth occurred or the manager or 
 superintendent of the public or private institution where the birth occurred, each in 
 the order named, within ten days after the date of such birth, to report to the local 
 registrar the fact of such birth. In such case and in case the physician, midwife, 
 or person acting as midwife, in attendance upon the birth is unable, by diligent 
 inquiry, to obtain any item or items of information contemplated in section fourteen 
 of this act. it shall then be the duty of the local registrar to secure from the jierson 
 so reporting, or from any other ]x»rson having tlie required knowledge, such informa- 
 tion as will enable him to prepare the certificate of birth herein contem])lated. and 
 it shall be the duty of the person rejjorting the birth or wlio may be interrogated in 
 relation thereto to answer correctly and to the best of his knowledge all questions 
 put to him by the local registrar \<-hich may be calculated to elicit any information 
 needed to make a complete record of the birth as contemplated by said section 
 fourteen, and it shall be the duty of the informant as to any statement made in 
 accordance herewith to verify such statement by his signature, when requested so to 
 do by the local registrar. [As re-enacted, 1917.] 
 
— 10 — 
 
 Certificate of birth. Contents. 
 
 Sec. 1-J. Tlio ctTtilicnto uf birth shall coutnin the following items, which are 
 hereby declared necessary for the legal, social, and sanitary purposes subsen-ed by 
 registration records : 
 
 (1) Place of birth, including state, county, township or town, village or city. 
 If in a city, the ward, street and house number; if in a hospital or other institution, 
 the name of the same to be given, instead of the street and house number. 
 
 (2) Full name of child. If the child dies without a name, before the certificate 
 is filed, enter the words "died unnamed." If the living child has not yet l)een named 
 at the date of filing certificate of birth, the space for "full name of child" is to be 
 left blank, to be filled out subsequently by a supplemental report, as hereinafter 
 provided. 
 
 (3) Sex of child. 
 
 (4) Whether a twin, triplet, or other i)lural birth. A separate coniticate shall be 
 required for each child in case of plural births. 
 
 (.">) For plural births, number of each child in order of birth. 
 
 (6) Date of birth, including the year, month, and day. 
 
 (7) Full name of father. 
 
 (5) Residence of father (giving city and state of residence). 
 
 (9) Color or race of father. 
 
 (10) Age of father at last birthday, in years. 
 
 (11) Birthplace of father; at least state or foreign country, if known. 
 
 (12) Occupation of father. The occupation to be reported if engaged in any 
 remunerative employment, with the statement of (a) trade, profession, or particular 
 kind of work; (b) general nature of industry, business or establishment in which 
 employed (or employer). 
 
 (13) Maiden name of mother. 
 
 (14) Residence of mother (giving city ami state of residence). 
 
 (15) Color or race of mother. 
 
 (16) Age of mother at last birthday, in years. 
 
 (17) Birthplace of mother; at least state or foreign country, if known. 
 
 (IS) Occupation of mother. The occupation to be reported if engaged in any 
 remunerative employment, with the statement of (a) trade, profession, or particular 
 kind of work: (b) general nature of industry, business or establishment in which 
 employed (or employer). 
 
 (10) Number of children born to this mother, including present birth. 
 
 (20) Number of children of this mother living. 
 
 (21) The certification of attending physician or midwife as to attendance at 
 birth, including statement of year, month, day (as given in item seven), and hour of 
 birth, and whether the child was born alive or stillborn. This certification shall be 
 signed by the attending physician or midwife, with date of signature and address ; 
 if there is no physician or midwife in attendance, then by the father or mother of 
 the child, householder, owner of the premises, or manager or superintendent of public 
 or private institution where the birth occurred, or other competent person, whose 
 duty it shall be to notify the local registrar of such birth, as required by section 
 thirteen of this act. 
 
 (22) Exact date of filing in office of local registrar, attested by his official 
 signature, and registered ntunber of birth, as hereinafter provided. [As antcndcd, 
 ir>17.] 
 
 Supplemental report of given name of child. 
 
 Sec. in. When any certificate of birth of a living child is presented without the 
 statement of the given name, then the local registrar shall make out and deliver 
 to the parents of the child a special blank for the supplemental report of the given 
 name of the child, which shall be lilicd out as directed, and returned to the local 
 registrar as soon as tiie child shall have l)cen named. [As vii(i<(<<l. T.tl.l.l 
 
 Physicians, midwives and undertakers to register with local registrars. 
 
 Sec. 1(!. That every i)h.\T<i('ian, midwife, and undertaker shall, without delay, 
 register his or lu-r name, a<ldress and occupation with the local registrar of the district 
 in which he or she resides, or may liereafter establish a residence; and shall there- 
 upon be HU|)pli<'d by the local registrar with a cojiy of this act. together with such 
 rules and regulations as may be prepared by theotate registrar relative to its enforce- 
 ment. Within thirty days after the close of each calendar year each local registrar 
 shall make a leturn to tiie state registrar of all physicians, miihvives, or undertakers 
 
— 11 — 
 
 who have been registered in his district during the whole or any part of the preceding 
 calendar year ; provided, that no fee or other compensation shall be charged by local 
 registrars to physicians, midwives, or undertakers for registering their names under 
 this section or making returns thereof to the state registrar. [As enacted, 1915.] 
 
 Hospital and institution superintendents or managers to keep records of inmates for 
 filling out of birth and death certificates. 
 
 Sec. 17. All superintendents or managers, or other persons in charge of hospitals, 
 almshouses, lying-in or other institutions, public or private, to which persons resort 
 for treatment of diseases, confinement, or are committed by process of law, shall 
 make a record of all the personal and statistical particulars relative to the inmates 
 in their institutions at the date of approval of this act, which are required in the 
 forms of the certificates provided for by this act, as directed by the state registrar; 
 and thereafter such record shall be, by them, made for all future inmates at the time 
 of their admittance. And in case of persons admitted or committed for treatment of 
 disease, the physician in charge shall specify for entry in the record, the nature of 
 the disease, and where, in his opinion, it was contracted. The personal particulars 
 and information required by this section shall be obtained from the individual himself 
 if it is practicable to do so ; and when they can not be so obtained, they shall be 
 obtained in as complete a manner as possible from relatives, friends, or other persons 
 acquainted with the facts. [As enacted, 1915.] 
 
 State registrar to prepare and distribute forms and blanks. Additional local record 
 for residents of cities of 2,500 population who may die or have child born in 
 another registration district. 
 
 Sec. is. The state registrar shall prepare and distribute all forms and blanks 
 for use in registering, recording and preserving the returns, or in otherwise carrying 
 out the purposes of this act ; and shall prepare and issue such detailed instructions 
 as may be required to procure the uniform observance of its provisions and the 
 maintenance of a perfect system of registration ; and no other forms or blanks shall 
 be used than those prepared by the state registrar. He shall carefully examine the 
 certificates received monthly from the local registrars, and if any such are incomplete 
 or unsatisfactory he shall require such further information to be supplied as may be 
 necessary to make the record complete and satisfactory. Whenever a certificate 
 is returned by a local registrar other than the registrar of the district in which the 
 deceased resided, in the case of a death, or in which the father and mother of a 
 child reside, in the case of a birth certificate, if the place of residence is a city within 
 this state and having at least two thousand five hundred inhabitants at the last 
 federal census, the state registrar shall mail to the local registrar of such city of 
 residence, a complete copy of the certificate. And all physicians, midwives, 
 informants, undertakers, clergymen, or judges, and all other persons having knowledge 
 of the facts, are hereby required to supply, upon the forms provided or upon the 
 original certificate, such information as they may possess regarding any birth or 
 death or marriage upon demand of the state registrar, in person, by mail, or through 
 the local registrar ; provided, that no certificate of birth or death or marriage, after 
 its acceptance for registration by the local registrar, and no other record made in 
 pursuance of this act, shall be altered or changed in any respect, except where 
 supplemental information required for statistical purposes is furnished. 
 
 Correction of record made upon authority of affidavits by filing amended certificate. 
 Preservation and indexing of records. 
 
 (a) Whenever it may be alleged that the facts are not correctly stated in any 
 certificate of birth, death, or marriage, already registered, the local registrar shall 
 require an afiidavit under oath to be made by the pereon asserting the fact, setting 
 forth the changes necessary to make the record correct, and supported by the affidavit 
 of one other credible person having knowledge of the facts. Having received such 
 afl5davits, the local registrar shall file them together with an amended certificate and 
 he shall note the fact of the amendment with its date on the margin of the otherwise 
 unaltered original certificate. He shall transmit the original certificate with the 
 affidavits and amended certificate attached when making his regular monthly returns 
 to the state registrar. He shall also retain copies for his files. If the correction 
 relates to a certificate previously returned to the state registrar the local registrar 
 shall forthwith transmit the affidavits to the state registrar. If the correction is first 
 made in the state bureau of vital statistics the state registrar shall transmit a 
 certified copy of the amended certificate to the local registrar. 
 
— 12 — 
 
 The statp registrnr shall furtlior arranu*', bind ami porniauontly preserve the 
 oertificates in a systematic manner an<l shall prepare and maintain a eomprehensive 
 and continuous card index of all births and deaths registered: said index to lie 
 arranged alphnl)etically. in the case of deaths, by the names of decedents, and in the 
 case of births, by the names of fathers an<l maich-n names of mothers, and in the 
 case of marriages by the names of both grooms and brides. He shall inform all 
 registrars what diseases are to be considered infectious, contagious. r)r commiinicable 
 and dangerous to the j)ubiic health, as decided by the state boanl of health, in order 
 that when deaths o<cur from such diseases i)roper precautions may be taken to 
 prevent their spread. If any cemetery compan.v or association, or any church or 
 historical society or association, or an.v other company, society or association, or 
 any individual, is in possession of an.v record of births or deaths which may be of 
 value in establishing the genealogy of any resident of his state, such company, society, 
 association or individual, may file such record or a dul.v authenticated transcript 
 thereof with the state registrar, and it shall be the duty of the state registrar to 
 presei^'e such record or trnnscrii)t and to make a record and index thereof in such 
 form as to facilitate the fiiuling of any information contained therein. Such record 
 and index shall be open to ins])(M'tion by the public, subject to such reasonable 
 conditions as the state registrar nia.v i)rescribe. If any person <lesires a transcript 
 of any record filed in accordance herewith, the state registrar shall furnish the same 
 upon application, together with a certificate that it is a true copy of such record, 
 as filed in his office. [.Is amrndrd, IIHT. I 
 
 Duties of local registrar. Supply blanks, examine certificates, keep copies, transmit 
 originals. 
 
 Sec. 1!>. Each local registrar shall supply blank forms of certificates to such 
 persons as require them. Kach local registrar shall carefully examine each certificate 
 of death when i)resented for record in order to ascertain whether or not it has l»een 
 made out in accordance with the juovisions of this act and the instructions of the 
 state registrar; and if any certificate of death is incomplete or unsatisfactor.v, it 
 shall be his duty to call attention to the defects in the return, and to withhold 
 the burial or removal permit until such defects are corrected. All certificati-s. either 
 of birth or of death, shall be written legibly, in durable black ink. and no certificate 
 shall be held to be complete and correct that does not supply all of the items of 
 information called fop therein, or s:<.tisfactorily accotuit for their omission. If the 
 certificate of death is jiroperly executed and complete, he shall then issue a i)ermit 
 for removal, burial or other disposition of the body to the undertaker: inuriiUd, 
 that in case the death (Hcurred from some disease which is held b.v the state board 
 of health to be infectious, contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the ]>ub]ic 
 health, no permit for the removal or other disi)osition of the body shall be issued bv 
 the registrar, excejjt under such conditions as ma.v be jjrescribed b.v the state and 
 local boards of health. If a certificate of birth is incomjdete. the local registrar 
 shall immediately notif.v the informant, and re(iuire him to sup])l.v the missing items 
 of infcjrmalion if the.v can be obtained. He shall number consecutively the certificates 
 of birth and death, in two separate series, beginning with number 1 for the first 
 birth and the first death occurring in each calendar year, and sign his name as 
 registrar in attest of the date of filing in his office. He shall also make a ciunjdete 
 an<l accurate co])y of ea<li birlli and each death ci'rtilicate registered by him in a 
 record book containing forms identical with the original certificates and to be jire- 
 served i>ermaiiently in his office as the local record'. And he shall, on the fifth day of 
 each month, transmit to the state registrar all original certilicales registered by him 
 for tlie preceding month. And if no births or no deaths occurred in an.v month, 
 he shall, on the fifth day of the following month report that fact t<i the state registrar 
 on a blank ))rovided for such purpose. \.\k inartiil, I'.U.'i. j 
 
 Fee of local registrar. Quarterly certification to county treasurer by state registrar. 
 
 Skc. lid. Kach local registrar shall be jiaid the sum of twenty-five cents for each 
 birth j-ertificate anil t'acli death certificate properly ami completely made tint and 
 regisleri'd with him, and correctly recorded and jiromptly returned by him to the 
 stale registrar, as re(|uired by this act, out of which fees he shall pay the sul)- 
 registrar the sum of fifteen cents in cases where the certificate is registered witli 
 the subregistrar. .\nd in case no births or no deaths were registered during any 
 monlh, the local registrar shall be entitled to be paid the sum of ■ twenty-five cents 
 for each report to that effect, i»ut only if such report be nuule promptly as re«iuired 
 
— 13 — 
 
 by this act. All amounts payablo to a local registrar under the provisions of this 
 section shall be paid by the treasurer of the county in which the registration district 
 is located, upon certification by the state registrar. And the state registrar shall 
 quarterly certify to the treasurers of the several counties the number of births and 
 deaths properly registered, with the names of the local registrars and the amounts 
 due each at the rates fixed herein. [As enacted, 3915.] 
 
 i 
 Certified copies of searches of records for fifty-cent fee. Disposition of funds. 
 
 Sec. 21. The state or local registrar shall forthwith upon request supply to any 
 applicant a certified copy of the record of any birth or death or marriage registered 
 under provisions of this act, for the making and certification of which he shall be 
 entitled to a fee of fifty cents, to be paid by the applicant. And any such copy of 
 the record of a birth or death or marriage when properly certified by the state or 
 local registrar, shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and places of the facts 
 therein .stated. For any search of the files and records when no certified copy is 
 made the state registrar or local registrar shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents for 
 each hour or fractional hour of time of search, such fee to be paid by the applicant. 
 The state registrar shall keep a true and correct account of all fees by him received 
 under these provisions, and such money so received by the state registrar shall be 
 deposited with the state treasurer, who shall credit the amount to the fund provided 
 and to be used for the payment of the traveling and contingent expenses of the state 
 board of health, and the money so collected by the local registrar shall be paid by 
 him into the county or city ti'easui'y, as the case may be ; provided, that the local 
 registrar shall, upon request of any parent or guardian, supply, without fee, a 
 certificate limited to a statement as to the date of birth of any child when the same 
 shall be necessary for admission to school, or for the purpose of securing employment; 
 and provided, further, that the United States census bureau may obtain, without 
 expense to the state, transcripts of births and deaths without payment of the fees 
 herein prescribed. 
 
 Superior court procedure for establisliing fact of birth or death or marriage not 
 registered within one year of occurrence of event. 
 
 (b) If, upon such search it shall develop that for any cause any birth or death, 
 or marriage, occurring in this state was not registered in conformity with the pro- 
 visions of law in effect at the time when such birth or death or marriage occurred 
 by the filing of the certificate therefor with the local registrar within a period of one 
 year from the date of the event, any person beneficially interested in establishing of 
 record the fact of such birth or death or marriage may petition the superior court of 
 the county in which such birth or death or marriage is alleged to have occurred for 
 an order judicially establishing the fact of such birth or death or marriage. Such 
 petition shall be verified and shall contain all the data necessary to enable the court, 
 upon hearing the same, to determine the fact of such birth or deatli or marriage upon 
 the proofs adduced in behalf of the petitioner at the hearing thereof. A copy of such 
 petition shall be served upon the local registrar of vital statistics, and also upon 
 the district attorney of the county in which such birth or death or marriage is 
 alleged to have occurred, and either of said ofticials shall have the right in his discre- 
 tion to appear at such hearing and oppose the making of such order. Such hearing 
 shall be had at such time as the court may api)oint. not less than ten days subsequent 
 to the date of filing such petition, and notice thereof must be given by publication for 
 the same time and in the same manner required by law to be given prior to the 
 hearing of the petition for the admission to probate of any will, or the issuance of 
 letters testamentary or of administration thereon. 
 
 If, upon such hearing, the proofs of the allegations of the petition are established, 
 to the satisfaction of the court, the court may make an order determining that such 
 birth, death or marriage did in fact occur in such countj' and at the time shown by 
 the proofs adduced upon such hearing. 
 
 Such order must l)e made in the form and upon the blank prescribed and furnished 
 by the state registrar and but one birth, death or marriage may be included therein. 
 And said order shall become effective upon the filing of a certified copy thereof with 
 the local registrar of vital statistics, and the delivery therewith for transmittal to 
 the state registrar of a standard certificate containing such facts and signatures as 
 are obtainable, and upon the filing of a certified coi)y of said order with the state 
 registrar. [As amended, 1917.] 
 
— 14 — 
 
 Penalty provisions against any violation of registration law. Fine or Imprisonment, 
 or both. 
 
 Sec. 22. Any porsou. who for liinisolf or as an offio«-r. agent, or employee of any 
 other person, or of any corporation or partnership, (a) shall inter, cremate, or 
 othenvise finally dispose of the dead body of a human heing. or pennit the same to 
 be done, or shall remove said body from the primary registration district in which 
 the death occurred or tiie body was fuaind, except as prfivided in section five of this 
 act without the authority of a burial or removal permit issued by the local recistrar 
 of the district in which the death occurred or in which the body was found; or 
 (6) shall refuse or fail to furnish correctly any information in his possession, or 
 shall furnish false information affectinj,' any certiticate or record, required by this 
 act; or (c) shall wilfully alter, otherwise than is provided by section eighteen of 
 this act, or shall falsify any certificate of birth or death, or any record established 
 by this act: or (d) being required by this act to fill out a certificate of birth or 
 death and file the same with the local registrar, or deliver it, upon request, to any 
 person charged with the duty of filing the same, shall fail, neglect, or refuse to 
 perform such duty in the manner required by this act; or (el being a local roiristrar, 
 deputy reiiistrar, or subregistrar. shall fail, neglect, or refuse to perform his duty as 
 required by this act and by the instructions and direction of the state registrar 
 thereunder, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof 
 shall for the fir.st offense be fined not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars 
 and for each subsequent offense not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred 
 dollars, or be imprisoned in the coimty jail not more than sixty days, or be both 
 fined and imprisoned in the discretion of the court. [As enacted, ITtl.").] 
 
 Local registrar to enforce law under supervision of state registrar. Prosecutions at 
 Instance of state board of health or secretary. 
 
 Sec. 23. T'nder the supervision and direction of the state registrar, each local 
 registrar is hereby charged with the strict and thorough enforcement of the pro- 
 visions of this act in his registration district. lie shall make an immediate report to 
 the state registrar of any violation of this law coming to his knowledge, by obser- 
 vation or upon complaint of any person, or otherwise. 
 
 The state registrar is hereby charged with the thorough and efficient execution 
 of the provisions of this act in every part of the state, and is hereby granted super- 
 visory power over local registrars, dejjuty local registrars, and subregistrars. to the 
 end that all of its requirements shall be luiiformly complied with. The state regis- 
 trar, either i)ersonally or by an accredited rejiresentative, shall have authority to 
 investigate cases of irregularity or violation of law. When the state board of bealth 
 or its secretary shall deem it necessary, it or he shall report cases of violation of 
 any of the provisions of this act to the prosecuting attorney of the county, with a 
 statement of the facts and circumstances; and when any such case is reported to him 
 by the state board of health or its secretary, the prosecuting attorney shall forthwith 
 initiate and promptly follow up the necessary court proceedings against the person 
 or corporation responsible for the alleged violation of law. And upon request of the 
 state board of health or its secretary, the attorney general shall assist in the 
 enforcement of the provisions of this act. [As amended, IMIT.] 
 
 Repealing clause. 
 
 Sec, 24. All acts and parts of acts iu conflict with this act are li.iel.y r iiinl.'d. 
 [As enacted, V.Ur>. \ 
 
 ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO MARRIAGES. 
 
 CIVIL CODE. 
 
 Certificate of marriage to be filled out In presence of county clerk Issuing marriage 
 license. 
 §((!»«. All persons abiint lo be joined in marriage must obtain from the county 
 clerk of the county in which the marriage is to be celebrated, in addition to the 
 license therefor i)rovided for iu section si.\ty-nine of tlie Civil Code, a certificate of 
 registry as jirovided in section three thousand and seventy-six of the Tolitical Code 
 which shall contain among other nialleiN as near as can be ascertained, the race, 
 color, age, name and surname, birtliplace, residence of the parties, maiden name of 
 the female, if j)reviously married, the names and birthplaces of the parents of each. 
 
— 15 — 
 
 and tho maiden name of the mother of each, which said certificate of registrj' shall 
 be filled out as herein provided in the presence of the county clerk issuing the 
 marriage license and shall then be presented to the person perfoi-ming the ceremony 
 and shall be filed by him with the county recorder within three days after the 
 ceremony. [.4s enacted, 1909.] 
 
 POLITICAL CODE. 
 
 State bureau of vital statistics. Duty of state registrar. 
 
 § 3074. The state board of health shall maintain, at the city of Sacramento, 
 a bureau of vital statistics for the complete and proper registration of births, mar- 
 riages and deaths, for legal, sanitary and statistical purposes, which bureau shall be 
 under the supervision of the state registrar of vital statistics. The duty of the state 
 registrar of vital statistics shall be to promulgate and enforce all rules and regulations 
 required to carry out the provisions of this chapter and that may be adopted from 
 time to time by the state board of health. [.4s amended, 1917.] 
 
 Certificate of marriage. Contents. To be filed by person performing ceremony 
 within three days thereafter. 
 
 § 307G. All persons who perform the marriage ceremony in this state shall within 
 three days after the ceremony file with the county recorder a certificate of registry 
 of the marriage performed by them in such form as may be prescribed by the state 
 registrar which shall contain among other matters as near as can be ascertained, 
 the place and date of marriage, sex. race, color, age, name and surname, birthplace, 
 residence of the parties married, number of marriage and condition of each, whether 
 single, widowed, or divorced, the occupation of the parties, maiden name of the 
 female, if previously married, the names and birthplace of the parents of each and 
 the maiden name of the mother of each. [As amended, 1905.] 
 
 Duty of county recorder. Examine certificates, keep copies, transmit originals. 
 
 § 307S. It shall be the duty of every county recorder to receive without fee or 
 chai'ge each certificate of registry of marriage * * * ; to make a complete and 
 accurate copy of each certificate registered by him, upon a form identical with the 
 original certificate, to be filed and permanently preser\'ed in his office as the local 
 record of such marriage * * *, in such manner as directed by the state registrar. 
 The recorder * * * must carefully examine each report, and register the same 
 marriage * * * j^^j- once, although it may be reported by dififei'ent persons. 
 The certificates shall be numbered by him and entered in the order in which they 
 are reported to him, beginning with number one for the first * * * marriage in 
 each calendar year. He shall also sign his name as registrar in attest of the date of 
 filing in his office. On or before the fifth day of each month each recorder * * * 
 shall transmit by United States mail, carefully enclosed in appropriate envelopes or 
 wrappers, addressed to the state registrar at Sacramento, or shall personally deliver 
 to him at his office in Sacramento, on or before the fifth day of each month, the 
 original certificate of * * * marriage, filed with him during the preceding month. 
 The state registrar shall thereupon file said original certificates of marriage * * *_ 
 and cause the same to be separately and systematically indexed. [As amended, 1907.] 
 
 Fee of county recorder. Quarterly certification by state registrar. 
 
 § 3079. For their services as required by section 307S of this code, county 
 recorders * * * shall, in addition to their compensation for the other duties of 
 their office, be allowed by the board of supervisors, ten cents for each name registered 
 and reported to the state registrar, which sum shall be paid out of the general fund 
 of the county upon warrants issued quarterly and signed by the county auditor and 
 approved by the state registrar, which warrants shall specify the number of cer- 
 tificates of marriages * * * properly registered and filed with the state registrar. 
 [As amended, 1905.] 
 
 Penalty for failure to perform duty. 
 
 § 3082. Any officer or pereon upon whom a duty is imposed under this chapter 
 who fails, neglects or refuses to perform any of the duties imposed upon him under 
 this chapter or by the instructions and directions of the state registrar shall be 
 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished in the same 
 manner as other misdemeanors provided in the Penal Code. [.4s amended, 1905.] 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 THIS i»u g^^jjpjju BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 W.UL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RCTURN 
 
 DAY AND TO $t.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 \ 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY