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WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026 REGULAR SESSION
Enrolled
Committee Substitute
for
Senate Bill 947
BY SENATORS DEEDS, WOELFEL, AND GRADY
[Passed March 14, 2026; in effect 90 days from
passage (June 12, 2026)]
Enr CS for SB 947
1 AN ACT to amend and reenact §16-5-29 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating
2 to providing birth certificates to homeless individuals under the age of 18.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 5. VITAL STATISTICS.
§16-5-29. Fees for copies and searches.
1 (a) The commissioner shall prescribe the fees to be charged and collected by the State
2 Registrar for certified copies of certificates or records, not to exceed $10 per copy, or for a search
3 of the files or records when no copy is made: Provided, That the fee may be increased to a
4 maximum of $12 per copy, at the discretion of the commissioner, after July 1, 2008.
5 (b) The commissioner may prescribe additional fees for the priority production or express
6 delivery of certified copies.
7 (c) The State Registrar may furnish certified copies of birth and death records to state
8 agencies and to organized charities free of charge when the certificates are needed in presenting
9 claims to the federal government or to a state for public assistance. Further, the State Registrar
10 shall furnish, free of charge, a certified copy of an individual's West Virginia birth certificate upon
11 application and a written affirmation of that individual's homelessness: Provided, That the
12 individual is under the age of 18 years. The State Registrar will keep a record of all certificates
13 furnished pursuant to this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, “homelessness” means
14 lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, or having a primary nighttime
15 residence that is:
16 (1) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living
17 accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the
18 mentally ill;
19 (2) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be
20 institutionalized; or
1
Enr CS for SB 947
21 (3) A public or private place not designed for, nor ordinarily used as, a regular
22 accommodation for human beings.
23 (d) Subject to the provisions set forth in §12-2-2 of this code, there is hereby continued in
24 the state Treasury a separate account which shall be designated the Vital Statistics Account.
25 (e) After July 1, 2006, and subject to the provisions set forth in §12-2-2 of this code, there
26 is established in the state Treasury a separate account which shall be designated the Vital
27 Statistics Improvement Fund. Funds deposited in this account will be used to modernize and
28 automate the system of vital statistics in this state and may not be used to supplant existing
29 funding necessary for the daily operation of the system of vital statistics. Funds in this account
30 will be retained in a non-lapsing fund for the improvement of the system of vital statistics.
31 (f) The commissioner shall deposit $1 received under the provisions of this section for
32 each certified copy to the Vital Statistics Improvement Fund and shall deposit $4 received under
33 the provisions of this section for each certified copy to the General Revenue Fund account. The
34 commissioner shall deposit the remainder of all fees received under the provisions of this section
35 for certified copies and for priority production and express delivery to the vital statistics account.
36 (g) The commissioner is authorized to expend the moneys deposited in the Vital Statistics
37 Account in accordance with the laws of this state as necessary to implement this article. The
38 Legislature shall appropriate all moneys in the Vital Statistics Account as part of the annual state
39 budget.
40 (h) The commissioner shall make an annual report to the Legislature on the Vital Statistics
41 Account, including the previous fiscal year's expenditures and projected expenditures for the next
42 fiscal year.
2
Enr CS for SB 947
The Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates hereby
certify that the foregoing bill is correctly enrolled.
...............................................................
Clerk of the Senate
...............................................................
Clerk of the House of Delegates
Originated in the Senate.
In effect 90 days from passage.
...............................................................
President of the Senate
...............................................................
Speaker of the House of Delegates
__________
The within is ................................................ this the...........................................
Day of ..........................................................................................................., 2026.
.............................................................
Governor
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