§ 2-503. Reports to Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene; duplication of records

   (a) Reports to Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene -- Required. -- At the intervals that the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene sets, each clerk shall send to the Secretary:

   (1) a copy of the record of each marriage that the clerk licenses and records;

   (2) a report of each divorce that the court grants;

   (3) a report of each annulment of a marriage that the court:

      (i) grants; or

      (ii) effects by entering a conviction of bigamy or of marrying within any prohibited degree; and

   (4) a report of any change in a marriage, divorce, or annulment record, in which the clerk shall certify that the change is correct and conforms to the corresponding record of the clerk.

(b) Reports to Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene -- Form. -- The report of a divorce or annulment or of a change in a marriage, divorce, or annulment record shall be made on the form that the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene provides.

(c) Duplication of marriage records by Secretary. --

   (1) The Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene may make photostatic, photographic, or microphotographic copies of the original marriage records of a clerk.

   (2) The Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene may not remove any original marriage record from the custody of the clerk.

   (3) The Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene shall:

      (i) make the copies in a manner that does not interfere with the orderly transaction of business by the clerk; and

      (ii) bear the cost of making the copies.

(d) Extra compensation prohibited. -- The clerk may not receive any extra compensation for sending a report or record to the Secretary or for making records available to the Secretary.

(e) Penalty. -- A clerk who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine of $ 10 for each offense.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 62, § 18; 1984, ch. 296, § 2.