52:17B-9.8c. Notification of State registrar of vital statistics; records

3. a. Upon receipt of a report of a missing child, the Missing Persons Unit shall notify the State registrar of vital statistics in the Department of Health of the disappearance and provide him with information concerning the identity of the missing child. The unit shall also promptly notify the State registrar if the child has been located.

b. Upon receiving notification from the unit, the State registrar shall mark the child's birth certificate. The birth certificate shall be marked in such a manner that whenever a copy of or information regarding the birth certificate is requested, the State registrar shall be aware that the certificate is that of a missing child. Once the State registrar has been notified by the Missing Persons Unit that the child has been located, the State or local registrar shall remove the mark from the record.

c. If a copy of the child's birth certificate is requested, the State registrar shall supply the birth certificate to the requestor without alerting him to the fact that the birth certificate has been marked. After supplying a copy of or information regarding the marked birth certificate to the requestor, the State registrar shall immediately report the inquiry or any knowledge as to the whereabouts of the missing child to the unit.

d. Upon notification of a report of a missing child, the State registrar shall request that the local registrar of the district where the child was born mark the child's birth certificate. When a copy of the marked birth certificate is requested, the local registrar shall supply the copy to the requestor without alerting him to the fact that the record has been marked and immediately notify the State registrar of the request.

e. Upon notification of a request for a marked birth certificate or other information concerning a missing child, the Missing Persons Unit shall commence an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the request, including a search for any record that may exist showing who has legal custody of the missing child and for any record that may disclose an allegation of child abuse perpetrated against the child or an allegation of domestic violence perpetrated against a member of the child's family.

f. If a search as described pursuant to subsection e. of this section reveals that a child reported missing is in the custody of his legal guardian or if substantiated allegations of child abuse against the child or any order protecting a family member from domestic violence exists, the unit shall continue the investigation without disclosing the whereabouts of the child or his guardian to the person who reported the child missing.

L.1995,c.395,s.3.