(a)  If any certificate of birth is rejected by the state registrar of vital records, including a delayed certificate of birth under the provisions of § 23-3-12, the applicant may, in the absence of an order from the family court, acknowledging or establishing paternity, or change in parentage through adoption, petition the superior court for an order establishing a record of the date and place of the birth and the parentage of the person whose birth is to be registered. The superior court shall have sole jurisdiction over proceedings relating to certificates of birth rejected by the state registrar of vital records.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-13

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Registration: means the acceptance by the division of vital records and the incorporation in its official records of certificates, reports, or other records provided for in this chapter, or births, deaths, fetal deaths, adoptions, marriages, or divorces. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Vital records: means records of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, and data related to those records. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1

(b)  The petition shall allege:

(1)  That the person for whom a certificate of birth is sought was born in this state;

(2)  That no record of birth of the person can be found in the office of the state or local custodian of birth records;

(3)  That the state registrar of vital records has refused to register a delayed certificate of birth; and

(4)  Other allegations as may be required.

(c)  The petition shall be accompanied by all documentary evidence which was submitted to the registration official in support of the registration. The petition shall be sworn to by the petitioner.

(d)  The superior court shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition and shall give the registrar of vital records ten (10) days notice of the hearing. The registrar of vital records, or his or her authorized representative, may appear and testify in the proceeding.

(e)  If the superior court from the evidence presented finds that the person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this state, it shall make findings as to the place and date of birth, parentage, and any other findings that the case may require and shall issue an order to establish a record of birth. The superior court may use a form prescribed and furnished by the state registrar of vital records. This order shall include the birth data to be registered; a description of the evidence presented in the manner prescribed by § 23-3-12; and the date of the superior court’s action.

(f)  The clerk of the superior court shall forward each order to establish a record of birth to the state registrar of vital records not later than the tenth (10th) day of the calendar month following the month in which it was entered. The order shall be registered by the state registrar of vital records and shall constitute the record of birth, from which copies may be issued in accordance with § 23-3-24 and § 23-3-25.

History of Section.
P.L. 1961, ch. 87, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 193, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 193, § 1.