u GIFT OF Form 10. 6-05. 3,000.] CALIFORNIA- STATE BOARD OF HEALTH BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS LAW FOR THE REGISTRATION OF VITAL STATISTICS IN CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO: W. W. SHANNON, - SUPERINTENDENT STATE PRINTING. 1905. [Form 10. 6-05. 3.000.] LAW FOR THE REGISTRATION OF VITAL STATISTICS IN CALIFORNIA. POLITICAL CODE. Part III Of the Government of the State. Title VII General Police of the State. CHAPTER III REGISTRATION OF VITAL STATISTICS. REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND MARRIAGES. 3074. State bureau of vital statistics. Duty of registrar. 3075. Statistician, appointment, term of office and salary. 3076. Registry of marriages performed. 3077. Registry of births. 3078. Duty of county recorder and health officer. Report to state registrar. 3079. Fee of recorder and health officer. 3080. State registrar to prepare blank form and instructions. 3081. State registrar may require further information. 3082. Penalty for failure to perform duty. 3083. State registrar to furnish certified copy of records, which is prima facie evidence. 3074. The state board of health shall maintain, at the city of Sacramento, a bureau of vital statistics for the com- plete and proper registration of births, marriages and deaths, for legal, sanitary and statistical purposes, which statistics. bureau shall be under the supervision of the secretary of state the state board of health, who shall be ex-officio state regis- du g ty S of ar ' trar of vital statistics, and whose duty it shall be, after con- sultation with the state board of health, to promulgate and enforce all necessary rules and regulations that may be required to carry out the provisions of this chapter. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 3075. The state board of health shall appoint a com- statisti- petent statistician to assist the state registrar of vital sta- appoint- tistics and such clerical and professional assistants as may mentof - be required for the proper discharge of the duties of said registrar. Said statistician shall also be an assistant to the secretary of the state board of health. The statistician so appointed shall hold office at the pleasure of the board and shall receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dol- Term of lars payable out of the general fund of the state from money not otherwise appropriated at the time and in the manner in which state officers are paid. The compensation for clerical and professional assistants shall be 'fixed by the 242638 boat-d and shall be payable from its fund for contingent expenses provided in the general appropriation act. (As. ^ amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) marriages^ 3076. All persons who perform the marriage ceremony performed, in this state shall within three days after the ceremony file with the county recorder a certificate of registry of the marriage performed by them in such form as may be pre- scribed by the state registrar which shall contain among other matters as near as can be ascertained, the place and date of marriage, sex, race, color, age, name and surname, birthplace, residence of the parties married, number of mar- riage and condition of each, whether single, widowed, or divorced, the occupation of the parties, maiden name of the female, if previously married, the names and birthplace of the parents of each and the maiden name of the mother of each. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) Registry of 3077. Physicians, midwives, nurses and other persons assisting at a birth shall return in writing within five days thereafter to the county recorder of the county where such birth takes place in such form as may be prescribed by the state registrar a certificate of registry of such birth which shall contain among other matters, the time and place of such birth, name, sex, race and color of the child, the name, residence, age, birthplace and occupation of the parents and the maiden name of the mother, and whether born in or out of wedlock, and such other information as may be required by the state registrar; provided, however, that in cities Local having a freeholders charter the health officer shall act as certoact?s ^ oca ^ registrar and perform all the duties thereof. In case registrar, the child is not named the recorder or registrar of such locality shall deliver to such parent, next of kin, physician, midwife or other person furnishing such certificate of birth a supplementary blank for report of given name, which shall be filled out and returned as soon as the child shall be named. In case there shall be no physician, midwife, or nurse attending at such birth, then, it shall be the duty of Registry of the parents of any child born in this state (and if there be duty of no parent alive, then the next of kin of said child) within parent. en (j a y s after such birth to report in writing to the recorder of the county or health officer of cities having a freeholders charter where such birth takes place, in such form as may be prescribed by the state registrar, the date, place and resi- dence, name, sex, race, and color of such child, and the names, residence, birthplace and age of the parents, their occupations, and the maiden name of the mother, and whether born in or out of wedlock, and such other informa- tion required by the state registrar. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) county g 3078. It shall be the duty of every county recorder to du c ty r of r> receive without fee or charge each certificate of registry of marriage and birth; provided, however, that in cities having a freeholders charter the health officer shall act as local registrar for births, and shall receive, without fee or charge. each certificate of birth and enter the same in the same man- officer. ner as provided for the county recorder; to enter the same in separate registers to be known as the "Register of Mar- riages/' and the "Register of Births," in separate columns, properly headed, the various facts contained in the certifi- cates and the name and official or clerical position of the person making the report. The recorder or health officer must carefully examine each report, and register the same marriage, or birth but once, although it may be reported by different persons. The certificates shall be numbered by him and entered in the order in which they are reported to him. On or before the fifth day of each month each recorder, or health officer, shall transmit by United States mail, carefully inclosed in appropriate envelopes or wrappers, trarby addressed to the state registrar at Sacramento, or shall personally deliver to him at his office in Sacramento, on or before the fifth day of each month, the original certificates of births and marriages filed with him during the preceding original month, and shall accompany said certificates with a brief JJfJJJjf* 68 statement of the number of such certificates, and the dates rjagesand of their receipt. The state registrar shall thereupon file niing S of. said original certificates of marriage and births, and cause the same to be separately and systematically indexed. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 3079. For their services as required by section 3078 of Fee of this code, county recorders, or health officers of cities having and ife^ith a freeholders charter, shall, in addition to their compensa- officer - tion for the other duties of their office, be allowed by the board of supervisors, ten cents for each name registered and reported to the state registrar, which sum shall be paid out of the general fund of the county upon warrants issued quarterly and signed by the county auditor and approved by the state registrar, which warrants shall specify the number of certificates of marriages and births properly reg- istered and filed with the state registrar. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 3080. The state registrar shall prepare a sample form state regis- and blank for use in registering, recording and preserving p^Vbiank the reports of marriages and births, and shall prepare and f n ^ u a c nd issue such detailed instructions as may be required to t?ons? c secure the uniform observance of its provisions and the maintenance of a perfect system of registration, and no other forms of blanks shall be used than those prescribed by the state registrar. Printed blanks in the form pre- o? s p to vis " scribed by the state registrar for the registration of mar- furnish riages and births shall be furnished to each recorder or bTanS! health officer by the board of supervisors of each county Recorder or city and county in sufficient quantities, and each recorder and health or health officer shall furnish without charge a sufficient fSsh number of copies to each applicant upon whom is imposed State regis- trar may require further in- formation. Informa- tion to be furnished state reg- istrar on demand. Deposition required when facts are not correctly stated. Corrected state- ments. Penalty for failure to perform duty. State regis- trar to furnish certified copy of records. the duty of certifying to a marriage or birth. (As amended. Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 3081. The state registrar shall carefully examine the certificates of marriages and births received monthly from the county recorders or health officers, and if any such are incomplete or unsatisfactory, he shall t require such further information to be furnished as may oe necessary to make the record satisfactory. All physicians, clergymen, judges, midwives, nurses, parents, or other informants upon whom the duty is imposed of certifying to marriages or births, and all other persons having knowledge of the facts, are required to furnish such information as they may possess regarding any marriage or birth upon demand of the state registrar, in person by mail or through the local recorder. Whenever it may be alleged that the facts 'are not correctly stated in any certificate of marriage or birth theretofore registered, the county recorder shall require a deposition under oath to be made by the person asserting the fact, to be supported by the depositions of two or more credible persons having knowledge of the facts, setting forth the change necessary to make the record correct. Having received such depositions, he shall file them and shall then draw a line through the incorrect statement or statements in the certificate, without erasing them, and make the neces- sary corrections, noting on the margin of the certificate his authority for so doing, and transmit the deposition, attached to the original certificate, when making his regular monthly returns to the state registrar. If the correction relates to a certificate previously returned to the state registrar, he shall transmit the deposition forthwith to the state registrar. If the correction is first made upon the original certificate on file in the state bureau of vital statistics, the state registrar shall immediately transmit a certified copy of the original certifi- cate, corrected as above, to the county recorder, who shall thereupon substitute such certified copy for the copy of the certificate in his records. All such corrections and marginal notes referring to them shall be legibly written in ink, type- written or printed. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 3082. Any officer or person upon whom a duty is im- posed under this chapter who fails, neglects or refuses to perform any of the duties imposed upon him under this chapter or by the instructions and directions of the state registrar shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished in the same manner as other misdemeanors provided in the Penal Code. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 3083. The state registrar shall upon request furnish any applicant a certified copy of the record of any marriage or birth registered under the provisions of this chapter, for the making and certification of which he shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents to be paid by the applicant. Any such copy of the record of a marriage or birth when properly certified by the state registrar to be a true copy thereof shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and places of the facie facts therein stated. For any search of the files and e records when no certified copy is made, the state registrar shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents for each hour or fractional hour of time of search to be paid by the appli- cant. And the state registrar shall keep a true and correct account of all fees by him received under these provisions and shall deposit all fees with the state treasurer. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) REGISTRATION OF DEATHS. 3084. (Repealed, Stats. -1905, Ch. CX. Superseded by Stats. 1905, Chs. CXIX and CCCXLVI.) STATUTES 1905, CHAPTER CXIX. SEC. 1. State bureau of vital statistics. SEC. 2. State divided into districts for registration of deaths. SEC. 3. Registrars of districts. Deputy local registrar. Sub- registrars. SEC. 4. Permit from local registrar before burial. SEC. 5. Stillborn children registered as deaths. SEC. 6. Certificate of death. Contents. SEC. 7. In case death occurs without medical attendance. SEC. 8. Undertaker responsible for certificate of death. SEC. 9. Local registrar to supply blanks. Duty of local registrar. SEC. 10. If interment be made in district where death occurred, duty of registrar. SEC. 11. Duty of sexton or other person in charge of burial ground. SEC. 12. State registrar to prepare blank forms for all registrars. Index of deaths. SEC. 13. Corrections in certificate, how made. SEC. 14. Fee of local registrar. SEC. 15. State registrar to furnish certified copy of records. Fees. SEC. 16. Physicians and undertakers to register with local registrar. EC. 17. Penalties for neglect by attending physician, undertaker, registrars and violation of act by common carrier. SEC. 18. Local registrars charged with the enforcement of law. STATUTES 1905, CHAPTER CCCXLVI. SEC. 1. Duties of city clerk and recorder in relation to registration of deaths, etc. STATUTES 1905, CHAPTER CXIX. An act for the registration of deaths, the issuance and registration of burial and disin- terment permits and the establishment of registration dis- tricts in counties, cities and counties, cities and incorporated towns, under the superintendence of the state bureau of vital statistics and prescribing the powers and duties of registrars, coroners, physicians, undertakers, sextons and other persons in relation to such registration and fixing penalties for the violation of this act. [Approved March 18, 1905.] The people of the State of California, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. That department of the state board of health state known as the state bureau of vital statistics shall provide vital au for and superintend the complete and proper registration of statistics - deaths for legal, sanitary and statistical purposes. State divided into dis- tricts foi* registra- tion of deaths. Registrars of dis- tricts. Deputy local registrar. Subregis- trars. Permit from local registrar before burial. Certificate and return of death filed. When death oc- curs out- side of state. Stillborn children registered as deaths. SEC. 2. That for the purposes of this act the state shall be divided into registration districts as follows : Each city and county, city, and incorporated town, and each county exclu- sive of the portion included within cities and incorporated towns, shall constitute a primary registration district. SEC. 3. That the recorder of each city and county, county, and the clerk of each city or incorporated town, shall be the local registrar in and for such primary registration district and shall perform all such duties of local registrar as hereinafter provided; provided however, that in cities having a freeholders charter the health officer shall act as local registrar and perform all the duties thereof. Each local registrar shall immediately appoint in writing, a deputy who shall be authorized to act in his stead in case of absence, death, illness or disability and when it may appear neces- sary for the convenience of the people in any county, the local registrar is hereby authorized with the approval of the state registrar of vital statistics to appoint one or more proper and competent persons to act as subregistrars, who shall be authorized to receive certificates of death and to issue burial permits or removal permits in and for such portions of the county as may be designated. Each subreg- istrar shall note in legible writing over his signature the date each certificate of death was filed, and shall forthwith forward the certificate to the local registrar of the county, and in all cases before the eighth day of the following month; provided, that all subregistrars shall be subject to the supervision and control of the state registrar of vital statistics. SEC. 4. That the body or remains of no person whose death occurs in the state shall be interred, deposited in a vault, grave or tomb, cremated, disinterred or otherwise disposed of, or removed from or into any registration dis- trict until a permit for burial, disinterment or removal shall have been properly issued by the registrar of the regis- tration district in which the death occurs. And no such burial or removal permit shall be issued by any registrar until a complete and satisfactory certificate and return of the death has been filed with him, as hereinafter required; provided that in case of any death outside of the state, where the body is accompanied by a removal or transit permit issued in accordance with the law and the health regulations in force where the death occurred, such removal or transit permit shall be accepted as of the same authority as a permit 'from the local registrar when such removal or transit permit shall have indorsed thereon the written approval of the state registrar of vital statistics, or when said state registrar otherwise officially notifies the local registrar of his approval. SEC. 5. Stillborn children, or those dead at birth, shall be registered as deaths under this act, and a certificate of death and burial or removal permit in usual form shall be required. The medical certificate of cause of death shall be signed by the attending physician or midwife, and shall state the cause of death as "stillborn," with the cause of the stillbirth, if known, whether a premature birth, and, if born prematurely, the period of utero-gestation in months, if known. SEC. 6. That the certificate of death shall be of the stand- ard form recommended by the United States Census Office and the American Public Health Association, and shall con- tain the following items: (1) Place of death, including state, county, township or c town, city or village. If in a city, the ward, street, and house number. If in a hospital or other institution, the name of the same to be given instead of the street and house number. (2) Full name of decedent. If an unnamed child the surname, preceded by "unnamed." (3) Sex. (4) Color or race as white, black (negro or negro de- scent), Indian, Chinese, Japanese, or other. (5) Conjugal condition as single, married, widowed, or divorced. (6) Date of birth, including the year, month, and day. (7) Age, in years, months, and days. (8) Place of birth; state or foreign country. (9) Name of father. (10) Birthplace of father; state or foreign country. (11) Maiden name of mother. (12) Birthplace of mother; state or foreign country. (13) Occupation; the occupation to be reported of any person who had any remunerative employment women as well as men. (14) Signature and address of informant. (15) Date of death, including the year, month, and day. (16) Statement of medical attendance on decedent, fact and time of death, including the time last seen alive. (17) Cause of death, including the primary and immediate causes, and contributory causes or complications, if any, and the duration of each. (18) Signature and address of physician or official making the medical certificate. (19) Special information concerning deaths in hospitals and institutions and of persons dying away from home, including the former or usual residence, length of time at place of death, and place where the disease was contracted. (20) Place of burial or removal. (21) Date of burial or removal. (22) Signature and address of undertaker. (23) Official signature of registrar with date when cer- tificate was filed and registered number. The certificate shall be written legibly in permanent black H ow made ink, typewritten or printed, and no certificate shall be held out - to be complete and correct that does not supply all of the items of information specified above or satisfactorily account for the omission of any of said items. 10 Authenti- cation qf. Under- taker to sign. Medical certificate, by whom signed. Contents of cer- tificate. Cause of death carefully defined. In case death occurs without medical at- tendance. Duty of un- dertaker. Duty of coroner. Duty loca registrar. Under- taker re- sponsible for cer- tificate of death. Duty of un- dertaker. The personal and statistical particulars (items 1 to 13) or such other items as shall be required by the state registrar shall be authenticated by the signature of the informant, who may be any competent person acquainted with the facts. The statement of facts relating to the disposition of the body shall be signed by the undertaker or person acting as such. The medical certificate shall be made and signed by the physician, if any, last in attendance on the deceased, who shall specify the time in attendance, the time he last saw the deceased alive, and the hour of the day at which death occurred. He shall further state the cause of death so as to show the course of disease or sequence of causes result- ing in death, giving the primary and immediate causes, and contributing causes, if any, and the duration of each. Indefinite and unsatisfactory terms indicating only symp- toms of disease or conditions resulting from disease will not be held sufficient for issuing a burial or removal permit, and any certificate .containing only such terms, as defined by the state registrar, shall be returned to the physician for correction or definition. Causes of death which may be the result of either disease or violence shall be carefully defined; and, if from violence, its nature shall be stated, and whether accidental, suicidal or homi- cidal. For cause of deaths in hospitals, institutions, or away from home, the physician shall furnish the information required under this head, and shall state where, in his opinion, the disease was contracted. The cause of death and all other facts required shall in all cases be stated in accordance with the instructions and directions of the state registrar. SEC. 7. In case of any death occurring without medical attendance, it shall be the duty of the undertaker to notify the registrar of such death, and when so notified the regis- trar shall refer the case to the coroner for his investigation and certification, and the coroner shall within three days after the inquest furnish the local registrar where such death occurs a certificate in form and substance as required by the state registrar and containing as many of the facts required by this act as can be ascertained. Said local regis- trar shall then forthwith transmit such certificate to the state registrar, retaining a copy thereof on file in his office. SEC. 8. The undertaker, or person acting as undertaker, shall be responsible for obtaining and filing the certifi- cate of death with the registrar and securing a burial or removal permit prior to any disposition of the body. He shall obtain the personal and statistical particulars required from the person best qualified to supply them over the signa- ture and address of his informant. He shall then present the certificate to the attending physician, if any, or to the health officer or coroner, as directed by the registrar, for the medical certificate of the cause of death and other par- 11 ticulars necessary to complete the record, as specified in the preceding section. And he shall then state the facts required relative to the date and place of burial over his signature and with his address, and present the completed certificate to the registrar within the time limit, if any, designated by the local board of health for the issuance of a burial or removal permit. The undertaker shall deliver the burial permit to the sexton or person in charge of the premises before interring the body, or attach it to the box containing the corpse, when shipped by any transportation company, to accompany same to destination, when it shall be accepted by the sexton as authority for. the interment of the body. SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the local registrar to sup- ply blank forms of certificates to such persons as require supply them. He shall carefully examine each certificate when pre- ] sented for record to see that it has been made out in accord- Duty of ance with the provisions of this act and the instructions of r g tstrar. the state registrar, and if any certificate is incomplete or unsatisfactory it shall be his duty to call attention to the defects in the return and to withhold issuing the burial or removal permit until they are corrected. He shall then number them in consecutive order, beginning with number one for the first death in each calendar year, and sign his name as registrar in attest of the date of filing in his office. If the certificate is properly executed and complete, he shall then issue a burial or removal permit to the undertaker: provided, that in case the death occurred from some disease incase of that is held by the state board of health to be infectious, coSta- fr contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the public gious, etc. health, no permit for the removal or other disposition of the body shall be granted by the registrar except under such conditions as may be prescribed by the state and local boards of health. He shall also make a complete and accurate copy of each certificate registered by him, upon a form identical with the original certificate, to be filed and permanently preserved in his office as the local record of such death, in such manner as directed by the state registrar. He shall, on or before the eighth day of each month, transmit to the state registrar all original certificates registered by him during the preceding month. If no deaths occurred in any month he shall, on or before the eighth day of the following month, report that fact to the state registrar in such manner as the state registrar shall direct. SEC. 10. If the interment, or other disposition of the body "enufe is to be made in the registration district in which the death made in occurred, the wording of the burial permit may be limited which* 1 to a statement by the registrar, and over his signature, that a satisfactory certificate of death having been filed with him as required by law, permission is granted to inter, remove, or otherwise dispose of the body of the deceased, stating the name, age, sex and cause of death and other neces- sary details upon the form prescribed by the state registrar. 12 Duty of sexton or other per- son in charge of burial ground. State regis- trar to pre- pare blank forms for all registrars. No other forms of blanks to be used. Informa- tion to be furnished local reg- istrar, by whom. Index of deaths. Deposi- tion taken, when. In case the interment, or other disposition of the body, is to be made in some registration district other than that in which the death occurred, a complete copy of the certificate of death shall be attached to and made a part of the permit. SEC. 11. No sexton or person in charge of any premises in which interments are made shall inter or permit the interment of any body unless it is accompanied by a burial, removal, or transit permit as herein provided. Each sexton or person in charge of any burial ground shall indorse upon the permit the date of interment, over his signature, and shall return all permits, so indorsed, to the local registrar of his district within one day from the date of interment. He shall also keep a record of all interments made in the premises under his charge, stating the name of the deceased person, place of death, date of burial, and name and address of the under- taker, which record shall at all times be open to public inspection. SEC. 12. The state registrar shall prepare a sample form and blank for all registrars for use in registering, recording and preserving the returns or in otherwise carrying out the purposes of this act, and shall prepare and issue such detailed instructions as may be required to secure the uniform observ- ance of its provisions and the maintenance of a perfect system of registration. No other forms of blanks shall be used than those prescribed by the state registrar. He shall carefully examine the certificates received monthly from the local registrars, and if any such are incomplete or unsatis- factory he shall require such further information to be fur- nished as may be necessary to make the record satisfactory. All physicians, informants, or undertakers connected with the case, and all other persons having knowledge of the facts, are hereby required to furnish such information as they may possess regarding any death, upon demand of the state registrar, in person, by mail, or through the local registrar. He shall further arrange, bind and permanently preserve the certificates in a systematic manner, and shall prepare and maintain a comprehensive index of all deaths registered, showing the name of deceased, place and date of death, number of certificate, and the volume in which it is con- tained. He shall inform all registrars what diseases are to be considered as infectious, contagious, or communicable, and dangerous to the public health, as decided by the state board of health, in order that when deaths occur from such diseases proper precautions may be taken to prevent the spreading of dangerous diseases, and all rules and regula- tions made by him for carrying out and enforcing the pur- poses of this act shall, when promulgated, have the same force and effect as if enacted by law. SEC. 13. Whenever it may be alleged that the facts are not correctly stated in any certificate of death theretofore registered, the local registrar shall require a deposition under oath to be made by the person asserting the fact, to be sup- 13 ported by the depositions of two or more credible persons ^e riot acts having knowledge of the facts, setting forth the changes correctly necessary to make the record correct. Having received such depositions, he shall file them and shall then draw a line through the incorrect statement or statements in the certifi- tions. cate, without erasing them, and make the necessary correc- tions, noting on the margin of the certificate his authority correc- for so doing, and transmit the deposition, attached to the certffiJate, original certificate, when making his regular monthly returns how made - to the state registrar. If the correction relates to a certifi- cate previously returned to the state registrar, he shall transmit the deposition forthwith to the state registrar. If the correction is first made upon the original certificate on file in the state bureau of vital statistics, the state registrar shall transmit a certified copy of the original certificate, corrected as above, to the local registrar, who shall there- upon substitute such certified copy for the copy of the certificate in his records. All such corrections and marginal notes referring to them shall be legibly written in ink, type- written or printed. SEC. 14. Each local registrar shall be entitled to be paid Feeonocai the sum of not exceeding twenty-five cents for each death certificate properly and completely made out and registered with him, and by him returned to the state registrar on or before the eighth day of the following month, which sum shall cover and include the making out of the burial permit and the copy of the certificate to be filed and preserved in his office. And in case no deaths were registered during any month, the local registrar shall be entitled to a sum not ex- ceeding twenty-five cents for each report to that effect, promptly made in accordance with the directions of the state registrar: provided, however, that all such compensation for such services shall be fixed by the board of supervisors, compensa- city council, or other governing body of such local registra- iocai f tion district. All amounts payable to registrars under the ^^Jxed provisions of this act shall be paid by the treasurer or other lawful officer, out of the funds of each registration district, upon warrants drawn by the local auditor or other proper local officer of such district, which warrants shall specify the number of certificates properly registered and reports promptly returned where no deaths are registered, with the amount due for each: provided, however, that no war- rant shall be issued to any local registrar, or, if issued, shall be paid where notice is previously given by the state regis- trar to the auditor, treasurer or other proper officer of such registration district that the local registrar has failed to comply with the rules and regulations of the state bureau of vital statistics and the instructions of the state registrar. SEC. 15. The state registrar shall, upon receipt, furnish state regis- any applicant a certified copy of the record of any death {JJ^gii registered under provisions of this act, for the making and certified certification of which he shall be entitled to a fee of fifty 14 Fee for cer- tified gopy. Fee for search of records. Physicians and under- takers to register with local registrars. Rules furnished by local registrars. Neglect of attending physician; penalty. Neglect of under- taker, etc. penalty. Neglect of registrars; penalty. Violation of this act; penalty. Viola- tion by common carrier ; penalty. cents, to be paid by the applicant. And any such copy of the record of a death, when properly certified by the state registrar to be a true copy thereof, shall be prima facie evi- dence in all courts and places of the facts therein stated. For any search of the files and records, when no certified copy is made, the state registrar shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents for each hour or fractional hour of time of search to be paid by the applicant. And the state registrar shall keep a true and correct account of all fees by him received under these provisions, and turn the same over to the state treasurer. SEC. 16. Every physician and undertaker, residing in, at the date of this act or thereafter establishing a residence in, any registration district, shall forthwith register his or her name, address, and occupation, with the local registrar of the district in which he or she resides, and they shall there- upon be furnished by the registrar a copy of this act and such rules, regulations, and instructions as may be prepared by the state registrar with relation to their duties under this act. SEC. 17. If any physician who was in medical attendance upon any deceased person at the time of death shall neglect or refuse to make out and deliver to the undertaker, sexton, or other person in charge of the interment, removal, or other disposition of the body, upon request, the medical certificate of cause of death hereinbefore provided for, or shall willfully or knowingly make a false certification of the cause of death in any case, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. If any undertaker, sexton, or other person acting as undertaker shall inter, remove, or otherwise dis- pose of the body of any deceased person without having received a burial or removal permit as herein provided, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any registrar, deputy registrar or subregistrar who shall neglect or fail to enforce the provisions of this act in his district, or shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties imposed upon him by this act or by the instructions and directions of the state registrar, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. And any person or persons who shall violate any of the pro- visions of this act, or shall willfully neglect or refuse to perform any duties imposed upon them by the provisions oi this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any transportation company or common carrier transporting or carrying, or accepting through its agents or employes for transportation or carriage, the body of any deceased person without an accompanying permit, issued in accordance with the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- meanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars. 15 --,.-.;- - ' ' ' *- - SEC. 18. Local registrars are hereby charged with the strict and thorough enforcement of the provisions of this act in their districts under the supervision and direction of Enforce- the state registrar. They shall make an immediate report to Sf^V. the state registrar of any violations of this law coming to their notice by observation or upon complaint of any person or otherwise. The state registrar shall have authority to investigate cases of irregularity or violation of law, person- ally or by accredited representative, and all registrars shall aid him, upon request, in such investigations. When he shall deem it necessary, he shall report cases of violation of any of the provisions of this act to the prosecuting attorney or other proper officer of the county or municipality, with a statement of the facts and circumstances, and when any such case is reported to them by the state registrar all prose- cuting attorneys or officials acting in such capacity shall forthwith initiate and promptly follow up the necessary court proceedings against the parties responsible for the alleged violations of law. SEC. 19. All acts and parts of acts in conflict or incon- sistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. STATUTES 1905, CHAPTER CCCXLVL An act to amend Chapter I of an act entitled "An act to provide for the organization, incorporation and government of municipal corporations/' approved March 13, 1883, and acts amend- atory thereof, by adding a new section thereto, to be num- bered section 9, relating to the powers and duties -of city clerks and city recorders, respecting^ the registration of] deaths and the issuance and registration of burial and dis- interment permits. [Approved March 20, 1905.] The people of the State of California, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter I of an act entitled "An act to pro- Municipal vide for the organization, incorporation and government of tSms. ra municipal corporations" approved March 13, 1883, and acts amendatory thereof, is hereby amended by adding a new sec- tion thereto, to be numbered section 9 thereof, to read as follows : Section 9. The city clerk of each municipal corporation citycierk end the city recorder of each municipal corporation where recorder, there is no city clerk shall have the powers and shall perform the duties of a registrar within such municipality which are prescribed and required by the provisions of an act entitled, deaths,etc. "An act for the registration of deaths, the issuance and reg- istration of burial and disinterment permits, and the establish- ment of registration districts in counties, cities and counties, cities, and incorporated towns, under the superintendence of the state bureau of vital statistics and prescribing the powers 16 and duties of registrars, coroners, physicians, undertakers, sextons and other persons in relation to such registration and fixing penalties for the violation of this act." SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict or inconsist- ent with this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 3. This act shall take effect March 31st, 1905. PENAL CODE. Part I Of Crimes and Punishments. TITLE X-OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY. 377. Willful violation of registration and health laws. violation ^^ - Every person who is charged with a duty relat- tratfon 5 "^ ^ ^ e registration of deaths, under chapter three, title andSeaith seven, of the act to establish a Political Code, approved laws. March twelfth, 1872, and amended March 18 and 20, 1905 (Stats. 1905, Chs. CX, CXIX and CCCXLVI), who- 1. Willfully fails to keep a registry of the name, age, resi- dence, and time of death of a decedent; or, 2. Willfully fails to register with the county recorder a certified copy of such register, as is provided for in said chapter; or, 3. Willfully inters, cremates, or otherwise disposes of any human body, in any city, county, or city and county, with- out having first obtained a permit, as provided for in said chapter; or, 4. Willfully grants a permit for the interment, cremation, or disposition of a dead human body, without the certificate provided for in said chapter; or, 5. Willfully violates any of the laws of this state relating to the preservation of the public health ; Is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is, unless a different pun- ishment for such violation is prescribed by this code, punish- able by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment. HA 3*8 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY