2025 Code of Georgia
Title 31 - Health (Chs. 1 — 54)
Chapter 10 - Vital Records (§§ 31-10-1 — 31-10-33)
Annotations
Notes
Editor’s notes.Ga. L. 1982, p. 723, § 2, effective November 1, 1982, rewrote this chapter, amending, renumbering, and repealing the Code sections therein. See the history lines to determine, where applicable, the former Code section numbers.
The former chapter, relating to birth certificates, consisted of Code Sections 31-10-1 through 31-10-75. Those Code sections which were repealed were based on Ga. L. 1914, p. 157, §§ 3, 4; Ga. L. 1927, p. 353, §§ 3, 4; Ga. L. 1931, p. 7, §§ 16, 17; Ga. L. 1933, p. 7, § 1; Ga. L. 1945, p. 236, §§ 1, 5, 6; Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 140, § 2; Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1 and Ga. L. 1981, p. 1456, § 1.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
It was never intended that former Code 1933, § 88-1202 should repeal provisions of former Code 1933, § 38-303. Stewart v. State, 72 Ga. App. 308, 33 S. E.2d 744, 1945 Ga. App. LEXIS 572 (1945).
Law was not intended to preclude parents from testifying as to ages of their children. Stewart v. State, 72 Ga. App. 308, 33 S. E.2d 744, 1945 Ga. App. LEXIS 572 (1945).
Opinion Notes
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL For discussion of new and corrected birth certificates for children adopted or legitimated outside of Georgia,see 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-58.
Naturopath is not authorized to sign a death certificate.1957 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 339.
Research References & Practice Aids
Cross references.Replacement of licenses, state identification cards, and other documents during periods of natural disaster, § 50-1-9.
Administrative rules and regulations.Vital Records, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Georgia Department of Public Health, Administration, Rule 511-1-3-.01 et seq.
Law reviews.For note, “Big Brother is Watching: When Should Georgia Get Involved in Issues of Family Privacy to Protect Children’s Liberties?,” see 34 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 819 (2018).
Hierarchy Notes:O. C. G. A. Title 31
- § 31-10-1. [Effective July 1, 2026] Definitions
- § 31-10-2. Maintenance and operation of vital records registration system
- § 31-10-3. Rules and regulations
- § 31-10-4. Appointment of state registrar of vital records
- § 31-10-5. Duties and powers of state registrar; delegation of functions and duties
- § 31-10-6. Local registrars, local custodians, special abstracting agents, and deputies; appointment; duties
- § 31-10-7. Form of certificates and reports; date received for registration required; filing or registration of information by photographic, electronic, or other means
- § 31-10-8. Certification to county treasurers of birth and death certificates and spontaneous fetal death reports filed; fees
- § 31-10-9. Registration of births
- § 31-10-9.1. Social security account information of parents
- § 31-10-9.2. Abuse or neglect reports; establishment of policies and procedures
- § 31-10-10. Registration of live born infants of unknown parentage
- § 31-10-11. Registration of delayed birth certificate
- § 31-10-12. Judicial procedure to establish facts of birth
- § 31-10-13. Certificates of adoption
- § 31-10-13.1. Certified copies of orders and registration of legitimations and paternity orders
- § 31-10-13.2. Provision of copies of legitimation and paternity orders to state registrar
- § 31-10-14. Issuance of new birth certificate following adoption and legitimation or paternity determination; requesting original birth certificate
- § 31-10-15. Death certificate; filing; medical certification; forwarding death certificate to decedent’s county of residence; purging voter registration list
- § 31-10-16. Criteria for pronouncing death; immunity from liability
- § 31-10-17. State registration of death certificates; certified copies; certificates of record
- § 31-10-18. Registration of spontaneous fetal deaths
- § 31-10-19. Reporting of induced termination of pregnancy
- § 31-10-20. [Effective July 1, 2026] Permits for disposition, disinterment, and reinterment
- § 31-10-21. Record of marriage licenses
- § 31-10-22. Record of divorces, dissolutions, and annulments
- § 31-10-23. Amendment of certificates or reports
- § 31-10-24. Preservation or disposition of vital records; certified reproductions; preserved originals and authorized reproductions as property of department
- § 31-10-25. Disclosure of information contained in vital records; transfer of records to State Archives
- § 31-10-26. Certified copies of vital records; duplicates and data
- § 31-10-27. Fees for copies or services
- § 31-10-28. [Effective July 1, 2026] Institutions and others to keep vital records
- § 31-10-29. Privileged nature of disclosures; notification of local registrar of institutional deaths and fetal deaths; notification of board of voting registrars of adult deaths
- § 31-10-30. Posting facts of death to birth certificates
- § 31-10-31. [Effective July 1, 2026] Penalty
- § 31-10-32. Extension of periods for filing of certificates or reports
- § 31-10-33. Certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth
