(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.
Structure Maryland Statutes
Title 4 - Statistics and Records
Subtitle 2 - Vital Statistics and Records
Section 4-202 - Registrars of Vital Records
Section 4-203 - General Responsibility
Section 4-204 - Birth, Death, and Fetal Death Certificates; Copies
Section 4-205 - County Birth, Death, and Fetal Death Records
Section 4-206 - Marriage, Divorce, and Annulment Records
Section 4-207 - Preparation of Birth, Death, and Fetal Death Certificates
Section 4-208 - Birth Registration
Section 4-209 - Foundling Registration
Section 4-210 - Delayed Birth Registration
Section 4-211 - New Certificates of Birth
Section 4-212 - Certificates of Death; Notice to Medical Examiner
Section 4-213 - Fetal Death Certificates
Section 4-213.1 - Stillbirth Certificates
Section 4-214 - Amendments to Vital Records
Section 4-215 - Burial Permits, Final Disposition, Transportation, and Disinterment
Section 4-216 - Duties of Institutions
Section 4-218 - Population Estimates
Section 4-220 - Copies of Vital Records -- Statistical Purposes
Section 4-221 - Copies of Vital Records -- Special Projects
Section 4-223 - Use of Copies of Vital Records as Evidence
Section 4-224 - Disclosure of Records
Section 4-225 - Enforcement of Subtitle