Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB2893

LRB104 10419 BDA 20494 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB2893

Introduced 2/6/2025, by Rep. Robert "Bob" Rita

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

410 ILCS 535/24

from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-24

Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that an elected registrar with control of the internal operations of the registrar's office may contract with a records preservation company for offsite restoration, preservation, and digitization of original, photographic, or microphotographic reproductions of original records of births 100 years old and older and deaths 50 years old and older, and marriage records 75 years old and older, if the company provides the elected official the protocols used to protect the records and ensure chain of custody before the elected registrar enters into the contract, and the elected registrar affirms the that the protocols used to protect the records and ensure chain of custody meet the standards set forth by the elected official.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Vital Records Act is amended by changing Section 24 as follows:

(410 ILCS 535/24) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-24)

Sec. 24. (1) To protect the integrity of vital records, to insure their proper use, and to insure the efficient and proper administration of the vital records system, access to vital records, and indexes thereof, including vital records in the custody of local registrars and county clerks originating prior to January 1, 1916, is limited to the custodian and his employees, and then only for administrative purposes, except that the indexes of those records in the custody of local registrars and county clerks, originating prior to January 1, 1916, shall be made available to persons for the purpose of genealogical research. Original, photographic or microphotographic reproductions of original records of births 100 years old and older and deaths 50 years old and older, and marriage records 75 years old and older on file in the State Office of Vital Records and in the custody of the county clerks may be made available for inspection in the Illinois State Archives reference area, Illinois Regional Archives Depositories, and other libraries approved by the Illinois State Registrar and the Director of the Illinois State Archives, provided that the photographic or microphotographic copies are made at no cost to the county or to the State of Illinois. It is unlawful for any custodian to permit inspection of, or to disclose information contained in, vital records, or to copy or permit to be copied, all or part of any such record except as authorized by this Act or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

(2) The State Registrar of Vital Records, or his agent, and any municipal, county, multi-county, public health district, or regional health officer recognized by the Department may examine vital records for the purpose only of carrying out the public health programs and responsibilities under his jurisdiction.

(3) The State Registrar of Vital Records, may disclose, or authorize the disclosure of, data contained in the vital records when deemed essential for bona fide research purposes which are not for private gain.

This amendatory Act of 1973 does not apply to any home rule unit.

(4) The State Registrar shall exchange with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services information that may be necessary for the establishment of paternity and the establishment, modification, and enforcement of child support orders entered pursuant to the Illinois Public Aid Code, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the Non-Support of Spouse and Children Act, the Non-Support Punishment Act, the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984, or the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015. Notwithstanding any provisions in this Act to the contrary, the State Registrar shall not be liable to any person for any disclosure of information to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly Illinois Department of Public Aid) under this subsection or for any other action taken in good faith to comply with the requirements of this subsection.

(5) No rule adopted by the Department shall be construed, either explicitly or implicitly, as restricting access to vital records by any municipality, county, multicounty, public health district, or regional health officer recognized by the Department for the purposes described in subsections (2) and (3).

(6) An elected registrar with control of the internal operations of the registrar's office may contract with a records preservation company for offsite restoration, preservation, and digitization of original, photographic, or microphotographic reproductions of original records of births 100 years old and older and deaths 50 years old and older, and marriage records 75 years old and older, if the company provides the elected official the protocols used to protect the records and ensure chain of custody before the elected registrar enters into the contract, and the elected registrar affirms the that the protocols used to protect the records and ensure chain of custody meet the standards set forth by the elected official.

(Source: P.A. 103-423, eff. 1-1-24.)