Folks, a major part of our 20th century research records are about to be denied us. PLEASE, email or call a KY senator and/or the governor's office immediately to express your opinion about this bill. If your ancestors were from KY but you don't live in KY, this still affects you and your ability to do long distance research online. 2 URLs are provided for you at the bottom of this message Sharon 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 http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/02rs/search.idq