Listmembers: This is just a heads up for everyone: The Kentucky Legislature is about to make some changes to the law concerning birth and death records in Kentucky making it harder to get copies. The only ones who can get a copy will be yourself, immediate family member, or authorized representative, i.e.. lawyer, doctor, funeral director. The biggest change is that the new law eliminates the INDEX for births and deaths. No part of the record may be obtained unless you can meet the criteria for obtaining a copy.The index will no longer be available online, on CD or in libraries. There is a provision for genealogists to get copies of births after 100 years and deaths after the person has been deceased for 50 years. If the person is still living, you must get permission from that person to obtain the certificate. What about someone who died in say, 1956? How will you get permission to receive a copy? House Bill HB 523 is currently in the Judiciary Committee. It will be voted on in the Kentucky Senate within a few days, perhaps as early as tomorrow. PLEASE, send a message to the Senators from Kentucky telling them how much we rely on these records for genealogical research. Genealogical tourism, including money spent for copies at the Office of Vital Statistics, Historical Societies, and Archives in Kentucky will be affected by this change. Money talks especially in these days of budget shortfalls. The email addresses for Kentucky State Senators can be found at this link: http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/Senate/senadd.htm Wishing you ancestral searching success, Debbie Jennings Please check websites below: Sweet Owen County IN <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/in4/sweetowen/">http://www.angelfire.com/in4/sweetowen/</A> Franklin CountyVermont Genweb <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~vtfrankl/Franklin.html">Franklincounty VT </A>

--=======2FA06A07======= Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-55E3580A; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I live in Illinois and am sending this message to each person on the website: Dear Senator ____________: I understand there is a bill pending in the Judiciary Committee that would limit a genealogist's ability to obtain birth and death certificates, and would eliminate the INDEX for births and deaths. There is a provision for genealogists to get copies of births after 100 years and deaths after the person has been deceased for 50 years, but how would I get information about a family member who died in say, 1956? How will I get permission to receive a copy? These certificates and lists contain vital information for those of us who are interested in our family ties and trees, and in finding *lost* family members. I'm my family's historian. Our roots are in Kentucky and I'm already having a difficult time connecting to the Kemps, Fowlers, and Rush's even though I belong to many on-line genealogy lists. Passage of this bill may make it impossible for me to learn about my family. My cousins and I are planning a trip to Wickliffe County, KY this spring to find our grandparents' headstones and visit the libraries and county offices to obtain birth and death certificates, and search any indexes and lists. If this bill passes, we would have no reason to go except to see old gravestones, and I don't believe we'll make the trip just for that purpose. I have no idea what your position on this issue may be. If you will be voting against this bill, I commend you and congratulate you on your wise decision. If you've been leaning towards voting for this bill, I ask you to explore the benefits to family historians, and then to vote against this bill that would severely block our ability to find family members and family roots. Thank you for your time, Barbara J. Opitz Waukegan, IL 60087 At 06:29 AM 3/6/02 -0500, you wrote: >Listmembers: >This is just a heads up for everyone: > >The Kentucky Legislature is about to make some changes to the law >concerning birth and death records in Kentucky making it harder to get >copies. The only ones who can get a copy will be yourself, immediate >family member, or authorized representative, i.e.. lawyer, doctor, funeral >director. --=======2FA06A07======= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-avg=cert; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-55E3580A Content-Disposition: inline --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.330 / Virus Database: 184 - Release Date: 2/28/02 --=======2FA06A07=======--