256/Maryland Manual

GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION

Joseph R. Noll, Director

201 W Preston St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 225-5830

The General Services Administration plans, or-
ganizes, and directs three Divisions: Central Ser-
vices, Vital Records, and Engineering and
Maintenance, as well as the Department's Library.
The Administration provides support services for
supplies and procurement, space allocation, fleet
management, mail, photocopying, building ser-
vices, and capital construction. Coordination and
technical assistance are provided statewide to pro-
jects of maintenance and engineering; asbestos
identification and abatement; and abatement of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are toxic
chemicals found in insulating oils for electric trans-
formers and switch gear.

DIVISION OF VITAL RECORDS

Julia Davidson Randall, Chief, State Registrar of
Vital Records

Metro Executive Building
4201 Patterson Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21215 764-3038
toll free: 1-800-832-3277

The Division of Vital Records serves the public
by providing copies of certified birth, death, mar-
riage, and annulment certificates. All births, deaths,
marriages, 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.
Copies of marriages records prior to June 1951 and
of all divorce records may be obtained from the
Circuit Court clerk in the county where the mar-
riage or divorce occurred.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL
EXAMINER

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

111 Penn St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 333-3250

The Department of Postmortem Examiners was
created in 1939 to replace a decentralized system of
local coroners (Chapter 69, Acts of 1939). In 1982,
the Department was subsumed into the State

Postmortem Examiners Commission (Chapter 21,
Acts of 1982; Code Health—General Article, secs.
5-101 through 5-507).

STATE POSTMORTEM EXAMINERS
COMMISSION

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

Ex officio: Robert H. Heptinstall, M.D.,
Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine; Maxie T. Collier, M.D., Commissioner of
Health of Baltimore City; Col. Elmer H. Tippett,
Superintendent, Maryland State Police.

Appointed by Secretary of Health & Mental
Hygiene: John M. Staubitz

The State Postmortem Examiners Commission
appoints physicians as deputy medical examiners in
each county They investigate violent and suspicious
deaths or deaths unattended by physicians. The
deputy medical examiners file with the Office of the
Chief Medical Examiner reports of all deaths inves-
tigated. Commission records are open for inspec-
tion to the family of the deceased and are acceptable
in court as evidence of the facts contained.

The State Postmortem Examiners Commission
is composed of four ex officio members and a rep-
resentative of the Department of Health and Men-
tal Hygiene selected by the Secretary of Health and
Mental Hygiene. The Commission appoints all pro-
fessional personnel (Code Health—General Arti-
cle, secs. 5-302 through 5-312).

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HEALTH
EFFECTS OF FIRE

Director:
John E. Smialek, M.D., Chief Medical Examiner

111 Penn St., 3rd floor
Baltimore, MD 21201 333-3250

The Center for the Study of the Health Effects
of Fire was created in 1988 (Chapter 185, Acts of
1988). The Center studies the health effects of
exposure to fire; gathers and analyzes data on mor-
bidity and mortality of fire-related injury or death;
and maintains a registry of persons who suffer fire-
related injury or death, and a computerized data
base concerning injuries and health effects of fire.
The Center is a repository for information routinely
collected about fires. Information collected by the
Center and intended for use in research is confiden-
tial and not discoverable or admissible as evidence
in a civil or criminal action to determine cause of
death or liability for injury or death.

In accordance with the State budget, the Center
provides funding for pilot studies on issues or fac-
tors affecting injuries or health effects of fire. The
Center also applies for federal or private research