Rhode Island § 23-3-21 - Vital Records

§ 23-3-21. Correction and amendment of vital records.

(a) A certificate or record registered under this chapter may be amended only in accordance with this chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter by the director of health to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital statistics records.

(b) A certificate that is amended under this section shall be marked “amended” except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. The date of amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on or made a part of the record. The director of health shall prescribe by regulation the conditions under which additions or minor corrections shall be made to birth certificates within one year after the date of birth without the certificate being considered as amended.

(c) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order changing the name of a person born in this state and upon request of that person or his or her parent, guardian, or legal representative, the state registrar of vital records shall amend the certificate of birth to reflect the new name.

(d) Upon request and receipt of a sworn acknowledgement of paternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents, the state registrar of vital records shall amend a certificate of birth to show paternity if paternity is not shown on the birth certificate. The department of human services and the division of taxation within the department of administration are authorized to accept a sworn acknowledgment of paternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents on forms prescribed in accordance with § 23-3-9, to forward the acknowledgment to the state registrar of vital records, and the state registrar of vital records shall amend the certificate of birth to show paternity if paternity is not shown on the birth certificate. Upon request of the parents, after approval by a court of competent jurisdiction, the surname of the child shall be changed on the certificate to that of the father. The certificate shall not be marked “amended.”

(e) When a certificate is amended under this section, the state registrar of vital records shall report the amendment to the custodian of any permanent local records and that record shall be amended accordingly.