§44. Compulsory registration of births; rejection of certificates

A.(1) A certificate of every childbirth shall be filed with the local registrar within fifteen days after birth in the parish in which the birth occurred or, at the direction of the state registrar, the certificate shall be filed directly with the central vital records registry. In the event that any information or signature required by this Chapter has not been obtained within the time allowed, the person responsible for preparing the certificate shall nevertheless file the certificate with such information and signatures as have been obtained and shall demonstrate that a reasonable effort has been made to obtain the missing information or signature. For the purposes of this Section, a request by certified mail to the last known address of the person or entity having the needed information or required to sign after an attempt to contact the person or entity by regular mail, telephone, or both, shall constitute reasonable effort.

(2) In the event that a signature other than the physician's signature has not been obtained, then the hospital shall also certify on a separate document that the information contained on the certificate accurately reflects the contents of the medical record. The state registrar or local registrar shall then sign the certificate in place of the missing signature.

B. No certificate shall be returned for completion which complies with this Section. No certificate which is otherwise accurate and legible shall be rejected for minor blemishes or aesthetic flaws, except that certificates which contain erasures, liquid paper, type-overs, or other evidence of alteration in the legal section shall not be accepted by the state registrar nor shall documents be accepted which are not machine readable due to information overlap with lines or text on the birth certificate form.

C. A certificate not in compliance with this Section or otherwise properly rejected shall be returned within fifteen days of receipt by the local registrar to the person charged by R.S. 40:45 with preparing it. That person shall, within fifteen days of receipt, obtain the missing information or signature or demonstrate that a reasonable effort has been made to obtain the missing information or signature.

Acts 1991, No. 820, §1; Acts 1995, No. 617, §1, eff. June 18, 1995.