Hello Fellow Listers: I am forwarding this note that was posted on the Snyder Co., PA. List in answer to a posting that I had previously sent about Vital Records being possibly closed to the public. I have had several personal replies since the original was sent, about a week ago. Several were informing me that they thought it was a hoax while others thought the opposite. I have copied and pasted what you will read below. Best Wishes... Donna HELLER ZINN of Newville, Cumberland Co., PA. ************************************** Listers: The question has been raised about Iowa records being closed. If you go to our GenWeb page for Iowa at... http://www.rootsweb.com/~iagenweb/index.htm ...you can read the following information. URGENT! IOWA BIRTH RECORDS TO BE CLOSED The Iowa State Department of Health, Vital Records Division, would like to see all birth records less than 95 years old closed to the public at the county level and have drafted a bill to this effect to be taken up by the legislature. According to Larry Coghlan of the Vital Records Dept., "The proposal is to make birth certificates 95 years old and older available for inspection and copying at the county level. The rest of the birth certificates would require a direct and tangible interest to obtain a copy. It is being proposed because of the identity theft (fraud) that has been taking place throughout the United States." This proposal raises a number of questions: Is it really necessary to close 95 years of records to address this problem? How will moving the records from the county level to the state level make it any more (or less) difficult for people interested in committing fraud? How will they define "direct and tangible interest"? Will state employees have the time and inclination to REALLY search the records for your ancestor, or will they keep the money and say "Not Found!" when the record is not exactly where it should be but just a few lines or pages away? Can they take the time to search for possible misspellings or decipher illegible handwriting? If ISDH gets this passed for birth records will all the other records follow suit? Is this an ill-conceived plan to punish the innocent (genealogists and others who need access to these records) instead of the guilty (those who commit fraud)? We need to ask questions now. If you cherish your right to have all your county records available at your county courthouse, speak up. WRITE. CALL. EMAIL. your county officials, state representatives and Governor Vilsack. If you don't speak up now, it might be too late. I'm afraid it is true. You can follow the links to contact the Honorable Governor Vilsack from the above named GenWeb page. Any help would be appreciated! Bill Rathbun Fairfield, Iowa billrath@kdsi.net