§61. Penalties

A. A fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both, shall be imposed on:

(1) Any person who willfully and knowingly makes any false statement in a certificate, record, or report required by this Chapter, or in an application for a certified copy of a vital record, or who willfully and knowingly supplies false information intending that such information be used in the preparation of any such report, record, or certificate, or amendment thereof; or

(2) Any person who without lawful authority and with the intent to deceive, makes, counterfeits, alters, amends, or mutilates any certificate, record, or report required by this Chapter or a certified copy of such certificate, record, or report; or

(3) Any person who willfully and knowingly obtains, possesses, uses, sells, furnishes, or attempts to obtain, possess, use, sell, or furnish to another, for any purpose of deception, any certificate, record, or report required by this Chapter or certified copy thereof so made, counterfeited, altered, amended, or mutilated, or which is false in whole or in part or which relates to the birth of another person, whether living or deceased; or

(4) In addition to dismissal proceedings pursuant to state civil service regulations, any employee of the vital records registry or office of public health who willfully and knowingly furnishes or processes a certificate of birth or death, or certified copy of a certificate of birth or death, or discloses information contained in a certificate of birth or death, with the knowledge or intention that it be used for the purposes of deception.

(5) Any person who without lawful authority possesses any certificate, record, or report, required by this Chapter or a copy or certified copy of such certificate, record, or report knowing same to have been stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained.

B. A fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both, shall be imposed on:

(1) Any person who willfully and knowingly refuses to provide information required by this Chapter or regulations adopted hereunder; or

(2) Any person who willfully and knowingly transports or accepts for removal, interment, or other disposition a dead body without an accompanying permit as provided in this Chapter; or

(3) Any person who willfully and knowingly neglects or violates any of the provisions of this Chapter or refuses to perform any of the duties imposed upon him or her by this Chapter.

Acts 1979, No. 776, §1; Acts 1986, No. 876, §1; Acts 2004, No. 254, §1; Acts 2013, No. 220, §17, eff. June 11, 2013.