§ 20-18-401 - Birth registration generally. - Arkansas Statutes

20-18-401. Birth registration generally.

(a) A certificate of birth for each live birth which occurs in this state shall be filed with the Division of Vital Records of the Division of Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, or as otherwise directed by the State Registrar of Vital Records, within ten (10) days after the birth and shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section.

(b) When a birth occurs in an institution or en route thereto, the person in charge of the institution or his or her authorized designee shall obtain the personal data, prepare the certificate, certify that the child was born alive at the place, time, and date stated on the certificate either by signature or in an approved electronic process, and file the certificate as directed in subsection (a) of this section. The physician or other person in attendance shall provide the medical information required by the certificate within seventy-two (72) hours after the birth.

(c) When a birth occurs outside an institution:

(1) The certificate shall be prepared and filed by one (1) of the following in the indicated order of priority:

(A) The physician in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a person;

(B) Any other person in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a person;

(C) The father, the mother, or in the absence of the father and the inability of the mother, the person in charge of the premises where the birth occurred; and

(2) The Division of Vital Records shall determine what evidence may be required to establish the fact of birth.

(d) When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance within the United States and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of birth. When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state, but the certificate shall show the actual place of birth insofar as can be determined.

(e) For the purposes of birth registration, the mother is deemed to be the woman who gives birth to the child, unless otherwise provided by state law or determined by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the filing of the birth certificate. The information about the father shall be entered as provided in subsection (f) of this section.

(f) (1) If the mother was married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth the name of the husband shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child, unless:

(A) Paternity has been determined otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction; or

(B) The mother executes an affidavit attesting that the husband is not the father and that the putative father is the father, and the putative father executes an affidavit attesting that he is the father and the husband executes an affidavit attesting that he is not the father. Affidavits may be joint or individual or a combination thereof, and each signature shall be individually notarized. In such event, the putative father shall be shown as the father on the certificate and the parents may give the child any surname they choose.

(2) If the mother was not married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth without an affidavit of paternity signed by the mother and the person to be named as the father. The parents may give the child any surname they choose.

(3) In any case in which paternity of a child is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, the name of the father and surname of the child shall be entered on the certificate of birth in accordance with the finding and order of the court.

(4) If the father is not named on the certificate of birth, no other information about the father shall be entered on the certificate.

(g) Either of the parents of the child or other informant shall verify by signature or electronic process the accuracy of the personal data to be entered on the certificate in time to permit the filing of the certificate within the ten (10) days prescribed in this section.

(h) Certificates of birth filed after ten (10) days but within one (1) year from the date of birth shall be registered on the standard form of live birth certificate in the manner prescribed in this section. Such certificates shall not be marked "Delayed". The state registrar may require additional evidence in support of the facts of birth.