Great News for PA Genealogists! SB-361 The Vital Records Bill,

[madinmaryland]

Last edited Sat Jan 14, 2012, 10:44 AM - Edit history (1)

has been signed into law by the PA Governor. This makes death certificates over 50 years old and birth certificates over 105 years old open records. It also transfers the certificates once they become open records to the Pennsylvania State Archives! The law takes effect Feb. 14, 2012.

http://users.rcn.com/timarg/PaHR-Access.htm

Edited to update link.

[kdmorris]

1. Dances...

Before my Carbaughs moved to Missouri in 1865... they were all in PA. Thank you!!!

[PatSeg]

2. That is good news

Thanks!

[The Genealogist]

3. That's wonderful news!

Always good when more records come out! I have only distant relatives from PA late enough to have a death certificate. When exactly did PA begin issuing death certificates at the state level? I have seen some Philadelphia certificates at familysearch.org. Why, I wonder, could those be released?

And could you please tell the gov there to ask the gov of Kansas to do the same thing with death certificates?!

[madinmaryland]

4. I think the reason behind Philadelphia and Pittsburgh is that

before 1906 when a death certificate was required, counties cities and states were not required by law to have a death certificate. As a result, the DC's from Philly were held by the city and not the state. PA has controlled all state DC's since 1906.

I have several hundred ancestors that I will be able to access when this becomes available. I have sent questions to Tim Gruber who was instrumental in getting this passed, and I am hoping that this will be free and not accessible thru a fee-based web-site (ancestry.com). This and the release of the 1940 Census has me really excited about this spring!

Ironically the governor of PA is Tom Corbett a right-winger.

Here is the web-site set-up by Tim: http://users.rcn.com/timarg/PaHR-Access.htm Drop him an email and ask him about his strategies.

[The Genealogist]

5. Even better would be a free system like Missouri has

Missouri's death certificates from 1910-1960 (50 years) are available as PDFs of the originals on the MO Sec. of State office's website. It'd be nice if PA would do something like that!

[madinmaryland]

6. That's what I am hoping for.

There are several other states that have made theirs free also. We'll see.

[PaHR-Access]

8. A free system is in the works.

FamilySearch.org may be offering the certificates and their site is 100% free.
Check our Facebook page periodically for updates:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PaHR-Access/143896445682972

According to the PA House and Senate Fiscal Notes for this law, the collection will be released on Ancestry.com and the PA State website. The State website will offer access 3 years from now, but it will presumably be free.
House Fiscal Note: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/FN/2011/0/SB0361P1598.pdf

[PaHR-Access]

9. Other PA Jurisdictions offer access - not determined by state vital records law

Many death records are kept past 1906 by counties or cities in PA. These do not fall under state vital statistics law. The issue is more what jurisdiction the record was created under because the vital statistics law only applied to state filed certificates.
This page lists many of the post-1906 deaths available from more local jurisdictions within PA:
https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Pennsylvania_Vital_Records#Pennsylvania.C2.A0Birth.2C_Marriage_and_Death_Records_Online

[madinmaryland]

10. Thanks for the update, and welcome to DU!

[CanonRay]

7. Great, PA has always been a hard state to find stuff in.

at least for me.

[kestrel91316]

11. Wow. Common sense prevails. I haven't been able to get a legal copy of

adoption records in KS. The adoption was an OPEN one at the time, all parties knew each other, and it took place in the 1870s.

County judge in KS is still guarding it like it's a state secret and vital to national security. My mom's cousin got a bootleg copy somehow - she ain't tellin'.

[TomaMcCormick]

12. Family Names

It would be cool if we kept all the names of our ancestors as a full, formal name as in done in many parts of Polynesia and in Somalia, for example. You wouldn't have to hyphenate the names, you would just be taught the list of you ancestors as a kid and would memorize them. I just saw this video that has fun with the last name situation:

[kestrel91316]

14. There is a naming tradition in India where children are all given their father's first name as their

middle name, and also when a woman marries she takes her husband's first name as her new middle name, in addition to taking his last name.

Fewer baby names to have to think up, at least. But so many people wind up with the exact same names. And it doesn't help, in my niece's husband's family, that his last name is one of the most common in India, and 3 of his 4 grandparents had it as their last name at birth.

I don't think I am even going to try to look up records on them. Imagine a family of Smiths marrying other Smiths FOR CENTURIES.

[DearHeart]

13. Thanks for the news!!

My great grandmother & great grandfather's families were both from PA! Now I might be able to actually verify a particular line! Thanks again for posting this-I never would have known about the new law

[mrmpa]

16. How do you gain access to them........

I know right now if I need/want a copy of a birth/death certificate I go to the State Office Building, go to the Vital Statistics Office and get it. Is it the same way with this new law?

[madinmaryland]

17. From what I understand, PAHR is working with Family Search (the LDS) and Ancestry.com

on making these available. The actual records become open on 2/14/2012. I would imagine that sometime this year we would see them on one of the sites, though probably not transcribed and searchable. I'm not sure exactly how they will be released in the interim. I'll see if I can find out.

I updated the link in the OP: http://users.rcn.com/timarg/PaHR-Access.htm