Stanislaus County clerk-recorder redirects people seeking birth, death certificates

Need a birth certificate?

People in Stanislaus County are being directed to different offices to obtain birth, as well as death certificates, because of a shortage of special paper for those records.

The shortage of secure paper for certified copies of vital records could create extra hassles for people in the next several months, whether it’s parents who need birth records for their children or a family settling a loved one’s estate.

Clerk-Recorder Lee Lundrigan has arranged to provide a “verification of birth” at no charge to parents who need to enroll children in school. She said she spoke with county schools Superintendent Tom Changon and sent letters notifying school districts, and no one has said the record of births from the clerk-recorder’s office are not acceptable.

Customers seeking birth or death certificates from the clerk-recorder will be directed to the county public health department or the California Department of Public Health. Lundrigan expects the restrictions will continue for three months until the special paper is provided by a new supplier.

Some counties in California have run out of “secure bank note paper” after their sole supplier, Sekuworks LLC of Ohio, suddenly closed in July. California is among states that adopted the “intaglio” method for printing certified copies of birth, death and marriage certificates. The states use paper with printed security features to prevent counterfeiting of vital records.

Lundrigan said there are not many printing plants in the world equipped for intaglio printing, and several have closed or gone away from it recently. Officials are arranging for a company in Canada to supply the security paper to counties in California. Changes could be coming for the state’s printing requirements.

The clerk-recorder’s office at 1021 I St. in Modesto needs to replenish its supply. It will continue to issue certified copies of marriage certificates, limited to one copy per customer.

The county health department on Scenic Drive in Modesto has from a five to eight months’ supply, officials said. Birth and death certificates from 2014 and 2015 can be obtained from the health department. The county public health department keeps those certificates for two years.

For birth or death certificates for 2013 or earlier, residents need to send a notarized request to the California Department of Public Health. It takes a few weeks to obtain the certificates from the state. The CDPH has said it’s bringing in more staff to handle a larger flow of applications.

The county fees are $28 for birth certificates, $21 for death certificates and $15 for marriage certificates. The state charges $25 for birth certificates and $21 for death certificates.

Salida resident Katherine Borges heard Lundrigan give a presentation on the paper shortage to county supervisors Tuesday. She works with the International Society of Genetic Genealogy and said groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution require applicants for membership to provide copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates of grandparents.

The paper shortage could also frustrate people dealing with a death in the family, she suggested. Following the death of her father, Borges recalled, her mother had to obtain more than a dozen death certificates for insurance companies and banks to settle his estate.

Sharon Hutchins, who oversees vital records for the county public health department, said banks and other organizations require death certificates or photocopies of certificates to close out accounts of the deceased. She suggests that family members ask each organization what they require, because there’s a cost for each certificate.

The county public health department is seeing 10 to 30 customers daily who have been referred from the clerk-recorder’s office, Hutchins said.

She said customers can park or use the bus stop at the Health Services Agency complex on Scenic and should look for the building marked 820 Scenic Drive, with a “Public Health Services” sign. Inside the building, she said, signs direct visitors to the Office of Vital Records.

To apply by mail for birth or death certificates from the state, the address is California Department of Public Health, MS 5103, P.O. Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410. Information is available at www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/Pages/CertifiedCopiesofBirthDeathRecords.aspx.

Ken Carlson: 209-578-2321

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Stanislaus County clerk-recorder redirects people seeking birth, death certificates."