The following announcement was written by the Oregon Health Authority, then rebroadcast by the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee’s mailing list:
Last fall, Oregon suffered from severe wild fires and as a result, many families lost all their vital records. As a result, the Oregon Center for Health Statistics has issued temporary rules to waive fees for certified copies of records for these families, in accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order 20-35. The temporary rules were in effect September 14, 2020 through March 1, 2021. Now the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) says Oregon wildfire survivors who need some certified vital records can get them for free starting Tuesday, June 1st through October 28, 2021.
OHA says it will charge no fee for a search and issuance of up to three certified copies of vital records requested in connection with Oregon wildfires. Those records include: birth, death, marriage, divorce, domestic partnership or dissolution of domestic partnership records.
It says customers may order up to three certificates of each type of record at no charge.
OHA says the no-fee charge applies to certified copies ordered through the State Vital Records Office and all Oregon county vital records offices. It advises that in the “Reason for Needing Record” section on order forms, customers must list “Oregon Wildfires” to receive their records free of charge.
OHA reminds that county vital records offices “must charge the same fees as the state. The fee is $0 for up to three certified copies of vital records issued June 1, 2021 through October 28, 2021 to Oregonians affected by the Oregon wildfires.”
When ordering the certified copies of the vital record, the person ordering the certificates must state the reason for needing the record as “Oregon Wildfires.” It is important that this information is noted on the order so the fee can be removed appropriately. If ordering over the Internet or phone, the certificate fee also will not be charged. You will still need to pay the expedite fee and Vendor fee.
The temporary administrative order Executive Order 20-35 issued September 14, 2020
Only individuals eligible to receive the vital records as outlined in law can order the certificates. Only those affected by wildfires that occurred in Oregon are eligible to get the certificates free of charge.
For more information go to: www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/BIRTHDEATHCERTIFICATES or call 971-673-1190.
To access the previous postings about Oregon Wild Fires and Vital Records see the IAJGS Records Access Alert archives at: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/private/records-access-alerts You must be registered to access the archives. To register for the IAJGS Records Access Alert go to: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/listinfo/records-access-alerts. You will receive an email response that you have to reply to or the subscription will not be finalized. It is required to include your organization affiliation (genealogy organization, etc.)
Jan Meisels Allen
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee