sistent with the laws of this State. The Superintendent of the State Board of Health shall be designated and known as the Director of Vital Statistics, and shall be the administering officer of the State in connection therewith, charged with the enforcement of the provisions of law and the rules and regulations of the State Board of Health relating to the collection, recording and preservation of vital statistics. The Director of Vital Statistics may with the advice and approval of the State Board of Health appoint a deputy, and may employ such clerical assistance as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act. Section 2. The Director of Vital Statistics shall have an office in the Capitol properly equipped with fire proof vaults and filing cases for the preservation and safe-keeping of the official records and papers pertaining thereto. Section 3. That Section 9898 of the South Dakota Revised Code of 1919, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: The State Board of Health shall prepare, provide and furnish suitable books and blank forms in which to make and keep the records of the births, deaths, marriages, divorces and naturalizations occuring in this State, as provided for by this Article, and to furnish them to the several officers and persons required to make reports and keep the same. Section 4. That Section 9905 of the South Dakota Revised Code of 1919 be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: It shall be the duty of the Clerk of Courts of each county to receive such primary birth and death certificates and to at once enter the same in substantial books, provided by the State Board of Health for that purpose, showing a full and complete abstract of the information contained in each certificate, and he shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, transmit to the Director of Vital Statistics all such primary birth and death certificates, together with a record of the marriages performed in his county and of the decrees of divorce which may have been filed in his office, and also a report of all naturalizations of foreigners during the preceding calendar month. Section 5. That Section 9906 of the South Dakota Revised Code of 1919 be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: It shall be the duty of the Director of Vital Statistics to receive such primary certificates of birth and deaths and the reports of marriages, divorces and naturalizations from the several Clerks of Courts, and to number, index and bind the same in substantial covers and carefully preserve the same, and shall biennially report to the Governor a complete summary, properly tabulated, of the information received. Such report shall be published as a part of the regular biennial report of the State Board of Health. Section 6. That Section 9907 of the South Dakota Revised Code of 1919 be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: A physician or other person reporting any birth or death to the Clerk of Courts, as provided in this Article, shall be entitled to a fee of twenty-five cents for each burial or transportation permit issued by him; and the Clerk of Courts shall be entitled to a fee of twenty-five cents for each birth and death certificate received, entered and transmitted to the Director of Vital Statistics, a fee of ten cents for each abstract of marriage, divorce or naturalization records transmitted by him. All such fees to be paid out of the general fund of the county as hereinafter provided. Section 7. That Section 9908 of the South Dakota Revised Code of 1919 be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: It shall be the duty of the Clerk of Courts to make a complete list from his records of all persons who have returned primary birth and death certificates and issued burial or transportation permits in his county during the previous year, and to certify the amount due each person, including his own fees, and having certified to the correctness of same he shall present it to the Board of County Commissioners at the first meeting after the thirty-first day of December each year, which amount shall be allowed by such board and a warrant for the amount due each of such persons shall be issued; Clerks of Courts shall be entitled to receive all fees provided by this Article for such officers in addition to their salaries as fixed by law. Section 8. That Section 9909 of the South Dakota Revised Code of 1919 be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: Any undertaker, sexton, keeper of a cemetery, justice of the peace, clerk of courts, or other person, who shall fail, neglect or refuse to perform his duty as required by this Article and by the rules and regulations made by the State Board of Health to carry out the provisions thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Section 9. The Director of Vital Statistics shall furnish any applicant therefor a certified copy of the record of any certificate of birth or death, or abstract of marriage, divorce or naturalization recorded under the provisions of this Act, upon the payment of a fee of one dollar for the making and certification of each certificate or abstract, to be paid by the applicant. Such copy of the record in the office of the Director of Vital Statistics, when certified by the Director of Vital Statistics to be a true transcript therefrom, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts. therein stated in all courts in this State. Section 10. The Director of Vital Statistics shall preserve all records and files of vital statistics as heretofore collected and compiled, and shall have the custody thereof. Section 11. All Acts and parts of Acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. Section 12. Whereas, there is an immediate necessity for a complete and proper registration of births and deaths for legal, sanitary and statistical purposes, and for the preservation of public health, an emergency is hereby declared to exist and this Act shall be in force and effect from and after its passage and approval. Approved June 30, 1920. |