Legislation that would establish a five-business-day deadline for mailing requested birth certificates and put existing surname-registration practices into law has cleared the Committee on Health, Hospitals, and Human Services. The measure would codify the mailing option for parents of newborns born in government hospitals, a service the Department of Health already provides.
Bill No. 36-0280, sponsored by Senator Hubert Frederick, was amended and approved by the committee on September 29 before being forwarded to the Committee on Rules and Judiciary. Deputy Health Commissioner Hadiyah Charles testified in support of the measure and a proposed amendment in the nature of a substitute.
Under the proposed amendment, the registrar would be required to mail the birth certificate to the parent no later than five business days after the certificate of live birth and application are submitted. The department’s existing mailing service carries a $10 administrative fee and requires parents to provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Office of Vital Records and Statistics.
The legislation also addresses how a child’s surname is recorded at birth. Introducing the measure, Frederick said it would update the provision relating to “acknowledgement of the paternity” and provide guidance “regarding the surname to be placed on the birth certificate.” Charles said the proposed section “establishes a clear and uniform statutory rule for determining the surname to be entered on the child's birth certificate.”
“Where paternity has been acknowledged or otherwise legally established, the surname selected by the mother shall be entered in accordance with the applicable statutory procedure. Where paternity has not been acknowledged or established, the child shall be assigned the mother's surname,” Charles explained.
The Department of Health continues to rely on a 1970 memorandum from the Department of Justice recommending that approach. Charles said the legislation “codifies a longstanding Department of Health practice and provides a clear statutory standard.” She added that “establishing the rule in the Virgin Islands Code will reduce uncertainty and inconsistencies, provide parents and healthcare providers with greater clarity, and ensure that vital records and statistics personnel apply the requirement uniformly.”
Discussion of the mailing service also brought attention to the department’s certificate fees. Lorraine Benjamin Matthew, who heads the Office of Vital Records and Statistics, said the office intends to review its fee schedule, including charges for birth and death certificates. She said “the last schedule was 1994, so the prices are way outdated.”
According to Benjamin Matthew, the current application fees are $12 for an on-island application and $15 for an off-island application. “We're going to be coming towards the legislature for the fee schedule increase,” she said.
Senator Kurt Vialet supported giving the department flexibility to adjust its prices rather than specifying them in the law. He urged officials to ensure the fees cover the costs of providing the service. “Please don't pass on any other charge to the government of the Virgin Islands. Make sure that everything that you're able to capture that cost,” he said.
