management, and capital construction. Coordina-
tion and technical assistance are provided state-
wide to maintenance and engineering projects.

DIVISION OF VITAL RECORDS

Julia Davidson Randall, State Registrar of Vital
Records

201 W. Preston St.
Baltimore 21201 Telephone: 225-5971
24-hour telephone: 225-5988
Toll free: 1-800-832-3277

Within the General Services Administration,
the Division of Vital Records provides direct
services to the public. All births, deaths, mar-
riages, and divorces that occur in the State are
registered. Copies of birth, death, and marriage
records are issued to authorized persons for a fee
of $3.00 per copy (checks to be made payable to
the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene).

The Division has birth and death records for
Baltimore City from January 1, 1875, and for the
twenty-three counties of Maryland from August
1898. State marriage registration began on June 1,
1951, and divorce registration began in June 1961.
For marriages prior to June 1951 and for all di-
vorces, copies may be obtained from the clerk of
the Circuit Court in the county where the mar-
riage or divorce occurred.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL
EXAMINER

State Postmortem Examiners Commission

Chairperson: Benjamin Trump, M.D., University
of Maryland School of Medicine

Robert H. Heptinstall, M.D., Department of
Pathology. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine;
Susan R. Guarnieri, M.D., Commissioner of
Health of Baltimore City; Vacancy,
Superintendent, Maryland State Police; Vacancy,
designee of Secretary of Health and Mental
Hygiene.

John E. Smiaiek, M.D., Chief Medical Examiner

111 PennSt.
Baltimore 21201 Telephone: 333-3250

In 1939, the Department of Postmortem Exam-
iners was created to replace a decentralized sys-
tem of local coroners (Chapter 69, Acts of 1939).

Upon adoption of the Health-General Article of
the Annotated Code of Maryland , the Depart-
ment was subsumed into the State Postmortem
Examiners Commission in 1982 (Chapter 21, Acts
of 1982).

The Commission appoints physicians as deputy
medical examiners in each county. They investi-
gate violent and suspicious deaths or deaths unat-
tended by physicians. The deputy medical exam-
iners file with the Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner reports of all deaths investigated. Rec-
ords of the Commission are open for inspection to
the family of the deceased and are acceptable in
court as evidence of the facts contained (Code
Health—General Article, sec. 5-309).

The State Postmortem Examiners Commission
is composed of four ex officio members and a rep-
resentative of the Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene selected by the Secretary of
Health and Mental Hygiene. The Commission ap-
points all professional personnel (Code Health —
General Article, sees. 5-302 through 5-312).

DEPUTY SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC
HEALTH SERVICES

Vacancy, Deputy Secretary

201 W. Preston St.
Baltimore 21201 Telephone: 225-6540

The Deputy Secretary for Public Health
Services is responsible for Health Program Sup-
port units and seven administrations: Local
Health, AIDS Control, Mental Hygiene, Addic-
tions, Community Health Surveillance, Family
Health, and Developmental Disabilities.

The Deputy Secretary coordinates the develop-
ment and implementation of policies, procedures,
regulations, and standards that assure delivery of
improved health services. The Deputy Secretary
develops and promotes collaborative working rela-
tionships among the agencies and programs under
the Deputy Secretary as well as with other units
within the Department.

The Deputy Secretary develops and implements
policies, procedures, regulations, and standards to
ensure delivery of health services. The Deputy
Secretary promotes collaborative working rela-
tionships within the Department. Twenty-four lo-
cal health departments report directly to the Dep-
uty Secretary.