(a) A certificate or record registered under this article may be amended only in accordance with this article and regulations thereunder adopted by the State Board of Health to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital statistics records.

(b) A certificate that is amended under this section shall be marked "amended", except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. The date of amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on or made a part of the record. The Board shall prescribe by regulation the conditions under which additions or minor corrections shall be made to birth certificates within one (1) year after the date of birth without the certificate being considered as amended.

(c) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order, from a court of competent jurisdiction, changing the name of a person born in this state and upon request of such person or his parent, guardian, or legal representative, the State Commissioner of Health shall amend the certificate of birth to reflect the new name.

(d) When a child is born out of wedlock, the Commissioner shall amend a certificate of birth to show paternity, if paternity is not currently shown on the birth certificate, in the following situations:

(1) Upon request and receipt of a sworn acknowledgment of paternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents; or

(2) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order establishing paternity.

(e) For a child born out of wedlock, the Commissioner shall also change the surname of the child on the certificate:

(1) To the specified surname upon receipt of acknowledgment of paternity signed by both parents or upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order directing such name be changed. Such certificate amended pursuant to this subsection shall not be marked "amended"; or

(2) To the surname of the mother on the birth certificate in the event the acknowledgment of paternity is rescinded.

(f) The State Board of Health shall have the power and duty to promulgate rules for situations in which the State Registrar of Vital Statistics receives false information regarding the identity of a parent.

(g) If within sixty (60) days of the initial issuance of a certificate of death, a funeral director, or a person acting as such, requests a correction to any portion of the death record except the information relating to the medical certification portion, due to a scrivener's error, misspelling or other correction of information, the Commissioner of Health, through the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, shall amend the record, provided said request is made in writing or through an electronic system and is accompanied by documentation disclosing the correct information or by a sworn statement of the funeral director. The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall be responsible for any and all amendment fees that may be imposed by the Commissioner of Health for said correction. Up to ten certified copies containing the erroneous original information may be exchanged for certified copies containing the corrected information at no additional cost.

Added by Laws 1963, c. 325, art. 3, § 321, operative July 1, 1963. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 82, § 3, emerg. eff. April 3, 1986; Laws 2006, c. 116, § 61, eff. Nov. 1, 2006; Laws 2011, c. 105, § 12, eff. Nov. 1, 2011; Laws 2019, c. 96, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.