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1998 Kansas Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (1998)

handle is hein.sag/sagks0030 and id is 1 raw text is: January 5, 1998 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 98-1 Mack Smith, Executive Secretary State Board of Mortuary Arts 700 S.W. Jackson St., Suite 904 Topeka, Kansas 66603-3758 Re: Public Health--Uniform Vital Statistics Act--Copies of Death Certificates Synopsis: K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 65-2422d(g) does not prohibit copying of birth or death certificates as long as the copy contains a clear indication on its face that it does not purport to be a reliable copy. Cited herein: K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 65-2422; K.S.A. 65-2434. Dear Mr. Smith: As Executive Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts you request our opinion whether, pursuant to K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 65-2422(g), it is legal for copies of an original or certified copy of a death certificate to be made by a business (i.e. a funeral home) for business purposes. You ask whether it would make any difference if the copy were not represented as anything other than a copy. K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 65-2422d(g) provides: No person shall prepare or issue any certificate which purports to be an original, certified copy or copy of a certificate of birth, death or fetal death, except as authorized in this act or rules and regulations adopted under this act. We note that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has not implemented any rules and regulations authorizing copying such certificates. K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 65-2422d(g) is part of a model uniform act, and has been adopted by at least 12 other states. There are, however, no reported cases interpreting this provision in any of the states. There are two attorneys' general opinions from other states. In both Arizona Attorney General Opinion No. 190-33 (1990) and 1986-87 Virginia Attorney General Opinion No. 214 it was concluded that this provision, as applied in the respective states, prevented photocopying of the certificates. The Virginia Attorney General used his opinion to call on the Virginia Legislature to amend the statute to permit reasonable copying of certificates. The Virginia Attorney General relied, in part, upon the Virginia State Registrar's interpretation of Virginia's statute in reaching the conclusion that copying is prohibited. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in a letter from Linda Fund dated December 3, 1997, states that it is KDHE's interpretation that K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 65-2422d prohibits all photocopying of such certificates, even for retention as a business record. While it is true that an administrative agency's interpretation of law is

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