Pocket Guide to Obtaining Vital Records in Oklahoma
By Gary E. Payne and Kelly Baker

Every lawyer in Oklahoma has or will eventually receive a request for help in obtaining birth, death, marriage, divorce or driving records. The following information provides the basic resources necessary to obtain certified vital records in Oklahoma. (Brief mention is made on obtaining historical records although this subject would require a more exhaustive narrative than this article can offer).

BIRTH AND DEATH CERTIFICATES

The Vital Records Division of the Oklahoma State Department of Health1 issues certified copies of Oklahoma birth certificates and death certificates. Helpful information can be obtained from the agency Web site.2 (Records are maintained from 1908.)

Birth records are not subject to open record nor available for public inspection. Only the subject of the record, immediate next of kin, or an authorized agent may request a certified copy. Authorized agents must obtain a statement signed by the subject of the record releasing the record to the agent or provide a statement that the agent is working in the best interest of the subject. In addition to a complete application, a valid government-issued photo identification and proper fees are required.

A birth father who is not shown on his child’s birth certificate is not entitled to receive a copy of the certificate. Paternity must be established and filed before he is able to obtain a copy.

If a child is born out-of-wedlock, a full copy of the certified birth certificate can only be obtained by the mother (if the child is a minor), a legal guardian, the adult subject of the record, by an attorney for the purposes of adoption or by a court of competent jurisdiction. Otherwise a “short” certified copy will be issued.

Any death record can be requested upon receipt of a complete application, the proper fee and presentation of current valid government-issued photo identification.

Currently, fees for birth and death records are $15 per record. Amendments to a birth record (e.g. adoption, paternity, legal name changes) are subject to an additional processing fee of $25. Applications may be obtained at any Vital Record office or online. Uncomplicated records can usually be obtained in person at a Vital Record office in less than an hour or through the mail in 4-6 weeks. Delays can occur if the applications are not complete, copies of IDs are not included or proper fees are not attached.

A “Certificate of Adoption” form may be obtained from the Vital Records office or from a court clerk. If it has been completed and certified by the court clerk prior to submission to Vital Records, it will be considered acceptable in lieu of a Decree of Adoption. A search of records cannot occur until proper fees have been received, therefore an application may be required to be filed and fees paid before a record can be searched, reviewed and specific instructions issued. Questions can be directed to Vital Records via e-mail at AskVR@health.ok.gov.

Amendments to the medical section of a death certificate (e.g. cause of death) are done at no charge when the attending physician or medical examiner submits appropriate documentation. Amendments to the demographic section are $20. Families are encouraged to review the information prior to it being submitted by a funeral home to assure the information is correct (e.g. legal name, birthday, surviving spouse, occupation, etc.). Should this information need to be amended, contact the Vital Records office to determine what documentation will be required along with a statement from a funeral home to make the correction.

If a decedent did not die due to natural causes or was less than 18, the Medical Examiner (ME) will be required to at least review the case. If further inquiry is required by the ME (e.g. toxicology), a death certificate will be filed with a pending cause of death. The cause of death will be amended upon receipt of the death certificate from the medical examiner, but this can often take several months. A certified death certificate with a pending cause of death will often suffice as proof of death, but may not be enough for insurance purposes or serve to satisfy a grieving family.

A request for a certified death or birth certificate can be made online using a credit card through VitalCheck. Vital Check Express Certificate Service is the officially authorized remote ordering service for records obtained from OSHD.3 According to its Web site, a certified copy of a birth or death certificate can be obtained in about a week. There are other web-based for profit services that will obtain records as well. VitalCheck does charge a $10.95 upcharge over and above the regular fee.

Information to obtain vital records from other states can be obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics.4

TYPES OF BIRTH CERTIFICATES AND SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

There are several different types of birth certificates in Oklahoma that attorneys may be called upon to obtain or explain. They are as follows:

Delayed Birth Certificate

Under Title 63 O.S. §1-313, when the birth of a person born in this state is registered more than one year after the birth, the certificate is marked “delayed” and shows on its face the date of the delayed registration. Issuance of a delayed birth certificate is subject to certain evidentiary requirements set forth in OAC 310:105-3-2. A summary statement of the evidence submitted in support of the delayed registration shall be endorsed on the certificate. A record filed prior to a child’s 10th birthday will require two supporting records. After the 10th birthday, three supporting records will be required. Each of these must be from independent sources and established more than 10 years prior to the filing of the delayed certificate. Each source should indicate the correct age or date of birth. At least two of the records should reference the birthplace and at least one parentage. All facts presented will be investigated for authenticity.

Often, a delayed birth certificate alone will not be sufficient evidence to obtain desired services or benefits. Many state and federal agencies will require the same evidence that was provided to Vital Records to originally obtain the delayed certificate. Any request to file a delayed birth certificate is carefully scrutinized because of attempts to establish a record for purposes of committing fraud. Delayed birth records will not be filed if the subject of the record is determined to be deceased.

Stillborn Child Certificate

A fetal death (a.k.a. stillbirth) certificate is filed when a child who is at least 20 weeks gestation dies prior to the complete expulsion or extraction and shows no signs of like such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles, irregardless of whether the cord has been cut or the placenta attached. In this case a stillbirth certificate will be filed with the Vital Records Division. This record contains elements of both a birth and a death certificate including a cause of death. The record is not required to have a first or middle name. [For clarification, if a child should be born and show any sign of life, then both a live birth certificate and a death certificate would be filed. In this type case, a stillbirth certificate would not be filed.]

A certified copy of a fetal death/stillbirth certificate is $15 and may only be requested by a parent. A copy of the parents’ IDs will be required in addition to the completed application. (For clarification, if a child should be born and take only one breath and have only one heartbeat observed, then both a live birth certificate and a death certificate would be filed. In such cases, a stillbirth certificate would not be filed.)

The 2008 session of the Oklahoma legislature passed an amendment to 69 O.S. §1-301 that provides for the issuance of a memorial Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth. This memorial certificate is abstracted from the original fetal death/stillbirth certificate and is not proof of a live birth. It may only be requested by a parent and requires the submission of a complete application and a copy of parents’ IDs. The memorial certificate will be available beginning Nov. 1, 2008 for a fee of $15.

Heirloom Birth Certificate

Pursuant to 63 O.S. §1-316a the State Department of Health provides heirloom birth certificates for a fee of $35. A heirloom birth certificate is 11” x 14” with a dark blue trim, bearing a silver and gold seal, depicting a view of the State Capitol Dome and is suitable for framing. The certificate reflects the child’s name, date of birth, place of birth and names of the parents. The fee includes the issuance of a standard issued certified birth certificate as well. Sales of the heirloom certificate support the Child Abuse Training and Coordination Program.

MARRIAGE LICENSES

The court clerks of the various counties of Oklahoma maintain marriage license records. A marriage license can be obtained through the office of any court clerk in Oklahoma. After the marriage is performed, the license is to be returned “without delay” to the court clerk or judge who issued the license.5 To obtain a certified copy of a marriage license, it is necessary to know the name of the county where the parties were married and contact the court clerk of that county.6 There are various for profit Internet sites that will obtain copies of marriage licenses.

Several Internet sites offer information about marriages in Oklahoma and its preceding territories. Some of these sites are free and some are fee based.7 Generally, this information is available from 1880. The records available are primarily bride and groom registries that cite the book and page number or other information about the recording of the original documents.

DIVORCE RECORDS

Currently, 13 Oklahoma county court clerk offices are accessible through the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, a free Internet based service.8 Divorce records are available through this network but they do not go back to creation of statehood. There are several Internet for profit companies that will obtain certified divorce records from Oklahoma courts. The county where the divorce was granted must be known.9

DRIVING RECORDS

The Records Management Division of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety10 is responsible for receiving, processing, and maintaining all documents and records related to driving records and traffic collisions. These documents and records are submitted by Oklahoma’s state and local law enforcement agencies.

SCHOOL RECORDS

Attorneys are sometimes asked to assist in obtaining school records to be used for verification to obtain such things as birth certificates and passports to help determine heirship or establish mental fitness.

Generally, individual studentschool records are confidential and cannot be published except for certain elements used for statewide statistical reports and other data requirements of the State Department of Education. The Oklahoma Open Records Act, at 51 O.S., Section 24A.16 provides an exemption to the open records act for individual student records.

In recent years, school districts have revisited the customary practice of publishing student directories and other publications that might contain a student’s name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational institution attended by the student.

Any educational agency or institution making public directory information must now give public notice of the categories of information which it has designated as such information with respect to each student attending the institution or agency and shall allow a reasonable period of time after such notice has been given for a parent to inform the institution or agency that any or all of the information designated should not be released without the parent’s or guardian’s prior consent or the student’s consent if 18 years of age or older.

The preliminary step in obtaining any individual student record is to identify the school district attended by the student. There is no central depository of student records in Oklahoma. School districts are not contiguous with city boundaries and there may be several school districts in a county. The name of the school district is required. The name of a particular school within a district is very helpful as well. Once this information is known, a person over 18 who was once a student within that district can obtain their records. A parent or guardian of a person under 18 can also obtain school records.

MISCELLANEOUS

Under Section 23, Title 72 of the Oklahoma Statutes, individuals, administrators or guardians who assert a qualification relative to military service may obtain certified copies of marriage licenses, divorce decrees, birth certificates and death certificates free of charge.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, is the central repository for Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) for the state of Oklahoma. For a fee of $14 a criminal background report can be obtained on any individual who has committed a crime in Oklahoma. All requests for CHRI must include at least the full name and date of birth of the subject to be searched. Additional identifiers such as aliases (i.e. maiden names, nicknames) and social security numbers, if known, should be provided resulting in a more complete search of the Criminal History Record files.11

The Oklahoma Genealogical Society has several publications regarding territorial and Indian Nation vital statistics.12 This includes some information about the church, marriage and burial information of the Choctaw Nation; Index to probate records of Oklahoma County from 1895 to 1920, and Oklahoma County marriage records from 1899 to 1920. The society Web site also gives links to other historical societies in Oklahoma.

Ancestory.com and other fee based membership sites allow searches for marriages as well as births and deaths.

There are several official and unofficial LDS Family History Centers in Oklahoma that offer genealogy resources, including census records, death records, family history records, obituaries, marriage records, vital records, court records, and various other public records. Some of them are:

Lawton
923 Hilltop Drive
(405) 355-9946

Muskogee
3008 East Hancock Rd.
(918) 687-8861

Norman
Imhoff Rd. & Highway 9
(405) 364-8337

Oklahoma City
5020 NW 63rd
(405) 721-8455

Stillwater
1720 East Virginia
(405) 372-8569

Tulsa
12110 East 7th St.
(918) 437-5690

SUMMARY

Laws allowing public access to vital records are changing because of concerns for privacy as well as national security reasons. With the technology now available, methods and costs of acquiring documents are also changing. In the future, attorneys will be more frequently asked to assist clients in obtaining personal records. Hopefully the utilization of the Web resources cited in this article will be a useful tool for assisting clients.

1. Vital Records Division,
Oklahoma State Dept. of Health, 1000 NE 10th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73117-1299
Telephone: (405) 271-4040 or (877) 817-7364
Fax: (866) 550-1852
E-mail: AskVR@health.ok.gov
Lobby Hours: 8:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday - Friday with the exception of state recognized holidays
Satellite Information (for certificate pick-up only)
Tulsa Health Department,
Central Regional Health Center
315 S. Utica, Tulsa, OK
2. www.ok.gov/health/Birth_and_Death_Certificatesindex.html
3. www.oklahomadeathcertificate.com/
4. www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm
5. 43 O.S., §5 et seq.
6. This site lists the addresses of the court clerks of Oklahoma as well as other information. The author does not vouch for the accuracy of this information: www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/oklahoma/index.shtml#counties
7. One fee based site: http://marriagedatabase.com/oklahoma/marriage-records.htm. Most of the fee based cites will charge about $30 to obtain a certified copy of a marriage license. Again, you must know the proper county. An example of a free cite is: www.genwed.com/state/okgen.htm
8. www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/start.asp?viewType=DOCKETS
9. One fee based service: www.divorcerecordsusa.com/state/dusa_oklahoma.html
10. www.dps.state.ok.us/recm/ Requests may be mailed directly to:
Department of Public Safety
Attn: MVR
P.O. Box 11415
Oklahoma City, OK 73136 or call (405) 425-2059 with questions.
The MVR is available for: $13 per certified record, or $10 per uncertified record. (NOTE: the Department does not accept personal checks for driving records.)
11. www.ok.gov/osbi/Criminal_History/
12. Oklahoma Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 12986, Oklahoma City, OK 73157-2986, www.okgensoc.org/publications.htm

About The Authors

Gary E. Payne is the chief administrative law judge for the Oklahoma State Department of Health. He is a 1969 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He served eight years in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, 10 years as an appellate administrative law judge on the Board of Review for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission and has been a part time municipal judge for three cities. In addition, Judge Payne serves as the Appeals Review Officer for the Oklahoma State Department of Education Due Process Review program.

Kelly Baker is the director of Center for Health Statistics at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. She received a MPH in Biostatistics from the University of Oklahoma in 1994. Ms. Kelly currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) as Member-at-Large.

Pocket Guide to Obtaining Vital Records in Oklahoma
Published 79 OBJ 2537 (Nov. 8, 2008)