2013 Maryland Code
HEALTH - GENERAL
§ 4-205 - County birth, death, and fetal death records

§4-205.

(a) A county registrar shall preserve for 3 years each copy of a death or fetal death record that the Secretary sends to the county registrar.

(b) The county death and fetal death records shall be open to inspection by the Secretary, a designee of the Secretary, or an official of a municipal corporation or county, if the inspection is made for a proper purpose and in a manner that does not subject the contents of these records to risk of damage or alteration.

(c) If any omission or discrepancy in the personal or medical facts in a county death or fetal death record is called to the attention of a county registrar, the county registrar promptly shall:

(1) Investigate to determine the facts of record; and

(2) Send a certified statement of the facts to the Secretary.

(d) A county registrar shall investigate and inform the Secretary in full of any violation or suspected violation of this subtitle.

(e) (1) If the Secretary corrects a death or fetal death record, the Secretary shall send a notice of the correction to the county registrar for the county where the event occurred. The county registrar shall enter the correction on the county registrar’s record by photographic, electronic, or other means prescribed by the Secretary.

(2) If a discrepancy exists between the record of the Secretary and the record of a county registrar, the record of the Secretary shall be considered correct.