New Baton Rouge office issues birth certificates -- quick By MARSHA SHULER Capitol news bureau Need a copy of your birth certificate and need it quick? Things just got easier for you. Instead of having to travel to New Orleans or order one by mail and waiting weeks for delivery, a citizen can now walk into a new Baton Rouge office and in most cases walk out with a copy of the birth certificate within minutes. The new Office of Vital Records satellite office is open at 353 N. 12th St. Its hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays. The office will also be equipped to furnish copies of death certificates. "We’re trying to make it easier, more efficient for the people who need this service," said Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary David Hood, under whose agency the records registry exists. "Everyone needs a birth certificate and unfortunately a death certificate. We are trying to make that process easier and more customer friendly and above all more rapid," he said. What has happened all too often is a person travels to New Orleans to get a birth certificate issued and it takes all day, said Hood. "Now, you should be able to walk in and within a few minutes have a birth certificate in your hands. That’s our goal," said Hood. The Baton Rouge records registry, located in the parish health unit downtown, is the third satellite office established as DHH tries to get services closer to citizens. Other satellite offices are in Shreveport and Alexandria. There are plans to add similar services in Lake Charles, Lafayette, Monroe and in Jefferson Parish over the next year. In addition to the planned expansions, Hood said a new law allowing clerks of court in all parishes to issue birth and death certificates will ultimately give citizens in all parishes access to records closer to home. The demand for certified copies of birth and death records is high, with more than 500,000 individual requests each year, said state registrar of records William Barlow. Birth certificates are needed on a number of occasions, including enrolling children in school, obtaining Social Security numbers and drawing benefits, getting passports, verifying ages of youngsters participating in sports and obtaining driver’s licenses. Charges for vital records are set by the Legislature at $15 for a birth certificate, $9 for a birth card and $5 for a death certificate.