10- 146 C.M.R. ch. 4, § 3

Current through 2024-25, June 19, 2024

Section 146-4-3 - APPLICATION

A. An application form shall be prescribed and furnished by the Department or a municipal clerk for the purpose of determining the applicant's eligibility to receive the restricted vital statistics data, reports and vital records; or the State Registrar may authorize the verification in other ways when it shall prove in the best interest of the Department.

The State Registrar may require, as part of a completed application, a signed confidentiality agreement for vital statistics data requests or, if the applicant is requesting restricted vital records, a signed genealogist disclosure agreement which includes a code of ethics. Agreement forms can be accessed at http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/public-health-systems/data-research/vital-records/forms/index.shtml.

B. Written requests may be presented in lieu of an application. The written request shall contain at a minimum:

1. The applicant's full name, mailing address, telephone number and email address, or the name of the organization or the official authorized to execute agreements, title, organizational affiliation, mailing address, telephone number and email address:

2. Applicant's relationship to the registrant, if required by Section 2;

3. Registrant(s) listed on the record requested;

4. Approximate date of event or three-year time frame to search;

5. Place (city or town) of event, if known;

6. Names of parents of registrant listed on the record, if known;

7. The additional application requirements specified in Section 8 if requesting the release of restricted data for administrative and statistical research purposes; and

8. A self-addressed, stamped envelope.

C. Applications shall generally be handled in the order in which they are received. When more than three applications are received from the same applicant, the additional applications may be accepted and processed at a later time.

D. Applications may be presented in person, via mail, fax, and e-mail or electronically when they have been produced by software or the electronic system provided and approved by the State Registrar.

E. Approved applications and written requests submitted to the Department for the release, inspection or copying of a record shall be considered part of that record, subject to release in accordance with this rule.

10- 146 C.M.R. ch. 4, § 3