(a) A fee of twelve dollars ($12) shall be paid by the applicant for a certified copy of a fetal death or death record.
(b) (1) A fee of twelve dollars ($12) shall be paid by a public agency or licensed private adoption agency applicant for a certified copy of a birth certificate that the agency is required to obtain in the ordinary course of business. A fee of sixteen dollars ($16) shall be paid by any other applicant for a certified copy of a birth certificate. Four dollars ($4) of any sixteen-dollar ($16) fee is exempt from subdivision (e) and shall be paid either to a county children’s trust fund or to the State Children’s Trust Fund, in conformity with Article 5 (commencing with Section 18965) of Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) The board of supervisors of any county that has established a county children’s trust fund may increase the fee for a certified copy of a birth certificate by up to three dollars ($3) for deposit in the county children’s trust fund in conformity with Article 5 (commencing with Section 18965) of Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(c) A fee of three dollars ($3) shall be paid by a public agency applicant for a certified copy of a marriage record, that has been filed with the county recorder or county clerk, that the agency is required to obtain in the ordinary course of business. A fee of six dollars ($6) shall be paid by any other applicant for a certified copy of a marriage record that has been filed with the county recorder or county clerk. Three dollars ($3) of any six-dollar ($6) fee is exempt from subdivision (e) and shall be transmitted monthly by each local registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to the state for deposit into the General Fund as provided by Section 1852 of the Family Code.
(d) A fee of three dollars ($3) shall be paid by a public agency applicant for a certified copy of a marriage dissolution record obtained from the State Registrar that the agency is required to obtain in the ordinary course of business. A fee of six dollars ($6) shall be paid by any other applicant for a certified copy of a marriage dissolution record obtained from the State Registrar.
(e) Each local registrar, county recorder, or county clerk collecting a fee pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, shall do the following:
(1) Transmit 15 percent of the fee for each certified copy to the State Registrar by the 10th day of the month following the month in which the fee was received.
(2) Retain 85 percent of the fee for each certified copy solely to support the issuing agency for all activities related to the issuance of certified copies of records pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive.
(f) In addition to the fees prescribed pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, all applicants for certified copies of the records described in those subdivisions shall pay an additional fee of three dollars ($3), that shall be collected by the State Registrar, the local registrar, county recorder, or county clerk, as the case may be.
(g) The local public official charged with the collection of the additional fee established pursuant to subdivision (f) may create a local vital and health statistics trust fund. The fees collected by local public officials pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be distributed as follows:
(1) Forty-five percent of the fee collected pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be transmitted to the State Registrar.
(2) The remainder of the fee collected pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be deposited into the collecting agency’s vital and health statistics trust fund, except that in any jurisdiction in which a local vital and health statistics trust fund has not been established, the entire amount of the fee collected pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be transmitted to the State Registrar.
(3) Moneys transmitted to the State Registrar pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in accordance with Section 102247.
(h) Moneys in each local vital and health statistics trust fund shall be available to the local official charged with the collection of fees pursuant to subdivision (f) for the applicable jurisdiction for the purpose of defraying the administrative costs of collecting and reporting with respect to those fees and for other costs as follows:
(1) Modernization of vital record operations, including improvement, automation, and technical support of vital record systems.
(2) Improvement in the collection and analysis of health-related birth and death certificate information, and other community health data collection and analysis, as appropriate.
(i) Funds collected pursuant to subdivision (f) shall not be used to supplant funding in existence on January 1, 2002, that is necessary for the daily operation of vital record systems. It is the intent of the Legislature that funds collected pursuant to subdivision (f) be used to enhance service to the public, to improve analytical capabilities of state and local health authorities in addressing the health needs of newborn children and maternal health problems, and to analyze the health status of the general population.
(j) Each county shall annually submit a report to the State Registrar by March 1 containing information on the amount of revenues collected pursuant to subdivision (f) in the previous calendar year and on how the revenues were expended and for what purpose.
(k) Each local registrar, county recorder, or county clerk collecting the fee pursuant to subdivision (f) shall transmit 45 percent of the fee for each certified copy to which subdivision (f) applies to the State Registrar by the 10th day of the month following the month in which the fee was received.
(l) In providing for the expiration of the surcharge on birth certificate fees on June 30, 1999, the Legislature intends that juvenile dependency mediation programs pursue ancillary funding sources after that date.
(m) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2023.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 402, Sec. 6) by Stats. 2017, Ch. 38, Sec. 9. (AB 114) Effective July 10, 2017. Section operative January 1, 2023, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018