DIVISION OF VITAL RECORDS

Terry W. Taylor, Acting Chief, State Registrar of
Vital Records

201 W Preston St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 225-5971
24-hour telephone: 225-5988
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. (Copies also are available at the State Archives.)
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 marriage or
divorce occurred.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL
EXAMINER

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

111 Penn St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 333-3225

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, sees.
5-101 through 5-507).

STATE POSTMORTEM EXAMINERS
COMMISSION
Chairperson: Benjamin Trump, M.D., University
of Maryland School of Medicine

Appointed by Secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene:
one vacancy

Exofficio: John Yardley, M.D., Dept. of Pathology,
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Elias
Dorsey, Acting Commissioner of Health, Baltimore
City; Col. Elmer H. Tippett, Superintendent,
Maryland State Police; vacancy, designee of
Secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene.

333-3225

The State Postmortem Examiners Commission
appoints physicians as deputy medical examiners in

Department of Health & Mental Hygiene/291

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 inspection 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
professional personnel (Code Health—General Ar-
ticle, sees. 5-302 through 5-312).

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HEALTH
EFFECTS OF FIRE
Director: John E. Smiaiek, 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
grants to investigate such issues. In addition, the
Center communicates with national data bases of
scientific literature in toxicology, chemistry,
epidemiology, and related scientific disciplines; col-
laborates with agencies, such as the National
Bureau of Standards, that are involved in programs
related to health effects of fire; and promotes inter-
est in fire-related issues at educational institutions
in Maryland (Code Health—General Article, sees.
18-701 through 18-711).

ADVISOKT COUNCIL TO THE CENTER FOR THE
STUDT OF HEAITH EFFECTS OF FIRE
Melvyn Tockman, M.D., Ph.D., Chairperson, 1992

Appointed by Secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene
with Senate advice & consent: Walter G. Beri, Ph.D.,
1992; Victor H. Esch, M.D., F.A.C.S., 1993; Peter
Rasmussen, M.D., 1993; Andrew M. Munster,