Indiana Genealogical Records
to Remain Open
The Indiana General Assembly defeated legislation March 3 that would have sealed birth and death records, now public at the county level, except to the media and professional genealogists under rules established by the state health department. HB 1540, introduced by Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington) failed by a vote of 43–50.
According to the March 1 Indianapolis Star, Welch said the initiative was brought to her by the Indiana Vital Records Association and seeks to keep personal information out of the hands of identity thieves.
“These records are indispensable to us,” Pendleton (Ind.) Community Library Director Dennis Babbitt told the Star. Hoosier State Press Association lobbyist Steve Key said the legislation would have prevented neighborhood associations or environmental groups from looking at death records to determine if there’s a high incidence of disease, such as cancer, in their communities.
Indiana ranks among the most open states when it comes to access laws, according to the University of Florida’s Citizen Access Project, a comprehensive comparison of public records laws across the country.
Posted March 10, 2003.
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