Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 23-3 - Vital Records

• Adoptee: means a person who was born in this state and who has had an original birth certificate sealed due to an adoption. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Adoptee vital records file: means a file operated by the division of vital records that maintains adoptees' birth certificates, makes available the contact preference forms, and provides adoptees with non-certified copies of their birth certificates. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Adult adoptee: means an adoptee eighteen years of age or older. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Contact preference form: means the form prepared and maintained by the division that birth parent(s) of adoptees may file to express his or her preference regarding contact with the adoptee. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dead body: means a lifeless human body or parts of a lifeless human body or its bones from the state of which it reasonably may be concluded that death recently occurred. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Division: means the division of vital records as defined in this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• 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.
• Fetal death: means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after the expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of the voluntary muscles. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Filing: means the presentation of a certificate, report, or other record provided for in this chapter, of a birth, death, fetal death, adoption, marriage, or divorce for registration by the division of vital records. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Final disposition: means the burial, interment, cremation, or other disposition of a dead body or fetus. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Institution: means any establishment, public or private, that provides in-patient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, or nursing, custodial or domiciliary care to two (2) or more unrelated individuals, or to which persons are committed by law. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• 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.
• Legal representative: means an individual's attorney, personal representative, or conservator and includes a guardian appointed by the court to make decisions regarding the person of an adult. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Live birth: means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, that, after that expulsion or extraction, breathes or shows any other evidences of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of the voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Physician: means a person authorized or licensed to practice medicine pursuant to chapter 37 of Title 5. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• 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
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• Signature: means the application of either a hand signature to a paper record or an electronic process approved by the state registrar of vital records. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• System of vital records: means the registration, collection, preservation, amendment, and certification of vital statistics records, and activities related to them including the tabulation, analysis, and publication of statistical data derived from those records. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-3-1
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• 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