Pam and Everybody, Thanks for the update, Pam! Along w/everybody else, I lobbied for change for a long time, but lost track and forgot to follow up on it. BIRTH RECORDS "FYI": The information below is clipped from the Vital Statistics section of the state's web site <http://www.doh.state.fl.us/>. "... You must explain your relationship to the person whose record you are requesting. By law, birth records can only be issued to the person to whom the record is filed, if at least 18 years old, or a parent, guardian or legal representative or upon court order. We have limited records of Florida births dating from 1865. [Note: VERY limited before 1917--try, but don't get your hopes up. -Brian] The fee for a birth record is $9.00 for one certification and $4.00 for each additional certification of the same record when ordered at the same time. The fee is required for a search of our records and is non-refundable, even if the record requested is not located. In such a case, a certified "not found" statement will be provided. Duplicate copy fees for records "not found" may be refunded if the applicant sends a letter of request. "To order a birth certificate by either mail or fax, provide a signed letter which includes the following information: "1. Information about the person whose record is being requested: full name at birth and any subsequent name change that may have affected the indexing status of the birth record date of birth city of birth or county of birth father's full name and mother's full name, including her maiden surname "2. Information about the person making the request: full name relationship to the person named on the record mailing address telephone number where you can be reached during our office hours "3. Send a check or money order made payable to the "Office of Vital Statistics." Send the information described above along with the fee to Office of Vital Statistics Post Office Box 210 Jacksonville, FL 32231-0042 "4. If you are not sure of the date of the birth, provide a range of years to be searched. An additional fee of $2.00 is required for each additional year searched when included with your original request. Add the extra search fee to your check or money order and indicate the additional years to be searched in your letter. "5. Allow 3 to 4 weeks to receive your request. "6. You may request "RUSH" service RUSH service will is processed within three working days of receipt of your request and mailed by first class mail. If you are requesting "rush" service by mail or fax, you must also include an additional "rush" fee of $10.00 and mark the outside of your envelope or fax "RUSH". If you need even faster service, fax your request to Vital Statistics at (904) 359-6993. You may charge your request to VISA, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express. The RUSH fee of $10.00 plus a charge card acceptance fee of $4.50 will be charged to your account for credit card processing." There is similar information on the site concerning death certificates, but they are simpler, because they may be issued to anybody upon request, though the cause of death will be removed except for certain specified requesters. Y'all have fun, y'hear? --Brian ***************************************************** Pam Hall wrote: > > Hi Brian and All: > There was a change made on July 1, 1997 about the birth records which greatly improved access.... <snip> > Pamela J. Hall > Florida History & Genealogy Dept. > Indian River County Main Library > 1600 21st Street > Vero Beach, Florida 32960 > > 561-770-5060 Fax 561-770-5066 Email: phall@iu.net > > Florida History & Genealogy Department of IRC http://www.rootsweb.com/~flindian/ircl/ > Indian River County Local History (GenWeb Project) http://www.rootsweb.com/~flindian/ > Florida State Genealogical Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~flsgs/ > Indian River Genealogical Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~flindigs/ > East Central Florida Genealogical Society Co-op http://www.rootsweb.com/~flecfgsc/