§ 23-3-21 - Correction and amendment of vital records.
SECTION 23-3-21
§ 23-3-21 Correction and amendment ofvital records. – (a) A certificate or record registered under this chapter may be amended onlyin accordance with this chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter bythe director of health to protect the integrity and accuracy of vitalstatistics records.
(b) A certificate that is amended under this section shall bemarked "amended" except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. The dateof amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support ofthe amendment shall be endorsed on or made a part of the record. The directorof health shall prescribe by regulation the conditions under which additions orminor corrections shall be made to birth certificates within one year after thedate of birth without the certificate being considered as amended.
(c) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court orderchanging the name of a person born in this state and upon request of thatperson or his or her parent, guardian, or legal representative, the stateregistrar of vital records shall amend the certificate of birth to reflect thenew name.
(d) Upon request and receipt of a sworn acknowledgement ofpaternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents, the stateregistrar of vital records shall amend a certificate of birth to show paternityif paternity is not shown on the birth certificate. The department of humanservices and the division of taxation within the department of administrationare authorized to accept a sworn acknowledgment of paternity of a child bornout of wedlock signed by both parents on forms prescribed in accordance with§ 23-3-9, to forward the acknowledgment to the state registrar of vitalrecords, and the state registrar of vital records shall amend the certificateof birth to show paternity if paternity is not shown on the birth certificate.Upon request of the parents, after approval by a court of competentjurisdiction, the surname of the child shall be changed on the certificate tothat of the father. The certificate shall not be marked "amended."
(e) When a certificate is amended under this section, thestate registrar of vital records shall report the amendment to the custodian ofany permanent local records and that record shall be amended accordingly.