Senate Bill 2743

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-57-57, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW FUNDS COLLECTED FOR CERTIFIED COPIES OF BIRTH, DEATH AND MARRIAGE RECORDS TO BE USED FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS SUCH AS THOSE PERTAINING TO MATERNAL, INFANT AND CHILD HEALTH AND FOR THE COMPLETION OF ALL OTHER VITAL RECORDS AND STATISTICS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 41-57-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-57-57. In order to secure records of marriages and births in the several counties in this state from the earliest records down to the present time, the State Board of Health is hereby authorized and empowered to make contract with the circuit clerks or others of this state to compile for the bureau of vital statistics complete lists of marriages in the various counties from the earliest records down to the present time. In order to complete these records by securing records of said marriages in all said counties, the State Board of Health is hereby authorized and empowered to deposit all * * * ~~moneys~~ monies received as fees for certified copies of births, deaths and marriages in the State Treasury in a separate account to be used for the completion of the vital statistics on marriages in the various counties, and for clerical expenses and other expenses necessary for completion and issuance of birth records. Said fund shall be paid out for said purposes only on voucher issued for these purposes by the State Board of Health. When said statistics of past marriages in the several counties shall have been completed and paid for, then all of said funds that may remain on hand and all other such funds collected for certified copies of birth, death and marriage records thereafter may be used for the completion of birth records, for public health programs such as those pertaining to maternal, infant and child health, and/or for the completion of all other vital records and statistics.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.