(a) have charge of the registration of births and deaths;
(b) procure the faithful registration of births and deaths;
(c) provide the necessary instructions and forms for obtaining and
preserving records of births and deaths; and,
(d) be charged with the uniform and thorough enforcement of the
provisions of this article throughout the state.
2. The commissioner shall:
(a) have general supervision of vital statistics;
(b) provide suitably equipped offices for the permanent and safe
preservation of all records received or made under the provisions of
this article;
(c) prepare, print, and supply to all registrars all forms used in
registering, recording and preserving the returns, or in otherwise
carrying out the purposes of this article;
(d) prepare and issue such detailed instructions, not inconsistent
with the sanitary code, as may be required to procure the uniform
observance of the provisions of this article and the maintenance of a
good system of registration;
(e) examine the certificates received monthly and if any such are
incomplete or unsatisfactory, he shall require such further information
to be supplied as may be necessary to make the record complete and
satisfactory;
(f) arrange, and permanently preserve the certificates in a systematic
manner;
(g) prepare and maintain a complete typewritten, printed, photographic
or magnetically stored index of all births and deaths registered; said
index to be arranged, in the case of deaths, by the names of decedents,
and in the case of births, by the names of fathers, or the names of
mothers if the names of the fathers do not appear; and
(h) prescribe and prepare the necessary methods and forms for
obtaining and preserving records and statistics of autopsies which are
conducted by a coroner or by a medical examiner, or by his order, within
the state of New York, and shall require all those performing such
autopsies, for the purpose of determining the cause of death or the
means or manner of death, to enter upon such record the pathological
appearances and findings embodying such information as may be
prescribed, and to append thereto the diagnosis of the cause of death
and the means or manner of death.
(i) upon notification by the division of criminal justice services
that a person who was born in the state is a missing child, flag the
certificate record of that person in such manner that whenever a copy of
the record is requested, he or she shall be alerted to the fact that the
record is that of a missing child. The commissioner shall also notify
the appropriate registrar to likewise flag his or her records. The
commissioner or registrar shall immediately report to the local law
enforcement authority and the division of criminal justice services any
request concerning flagged birth records or knowledge as to the
whereabouts of any missing child. Upon notification by the division of
criminal justice services that the missing child has been recovered, the
commissioner shall remove the flag from the person's certificate record
and shall notify any other previously notified registrar to remove the
flag from his or her record. In the city of New York, the commissioner
of the department of health for the city of New York shall implement the
requirements of this paragraph.
3. The public health council may from time to time establish such
rules and regulations in the sanitary code supplementary to the
provisions of this article and not inconsistent therewith, as it may
deem necessary, in relation to the registration of births, deaths and
fetal deaths. Such rules and regulations shall be observed by all
persons upon whom duties are imposed by this chapter in connection with
the registration of births, deaths and fetal deaths.
4. Certified nurse practitioners completing a death certificate for a
death occurring in the city of New York shall have the same authority
and responsibility to complete the certificate as they would have if the
death occurred outside such city; provided, however, that such
responsibility shall be exercised in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the city of New York.