Section 32 - Reasonable Cause to Believe There Has Been Misconduct Regarding Vital Records; Actions by Clerk and State Registrar

MA Gen L ch 46 § 32 (2019) (N/A)

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Section 32. When a clerk at the registry or a town clerk has reasonable cause to believe that a vital record may have been falsely made, altered, forged, counterfeited or procured through fraud or misrepresentation or improper use of the signature or facsimile of the signature or signature stamp of a town clerk or the state registrar, the clerk of the registry shall not issue a certified copy of the record or make the record available for examination but shall retain the record and related evidence and notify the state registrar.

When the state registrar has reasonable cause to believe that a vital record may have been falsely made, altered, forged, counterfeited or procured through fraud or misrepresentation or improper use of the signature or facsimile of the signature or signature stamp of a town clerk or the state registrar, the state registrar shall: (i) take reasonable administrative action to prevent and control fraud or improper use of the record, including instructions to all vital records clerks who have custody of the record to limit, restrict or stop issuing certified copies or making the record available for examination notwithstanding any general or special laws to the contrary; and (ii) notify appropriate law enforcement authorities.

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Section 33 - Centralized, Automated Database for Vital Records and Statistics; Certified Copies Issued From Database; Capacity Requirements of Database; Maintenance and Preservation of Original Paper Records