County: Statewide Record Services Off to a Good Start

TYLER � Citizens in need of a copy of their birth certificate, no matter where they were born in Texas, can now purchase those copies at the Smith County Clerk�s office � and officials say the move is paying off. According to a county news release, the County Clerk�s office is making it more convenient than ever for citizens to have access to their personal records with the addition of a Remote Birth Access program that has the capability of tapping into state-wide electronic records.

Before the addition of the Remote Birth Access program, the County Clerk�s Office could only provide a copy of a birth certificate for those who were born outside the city limits of Tyler but within boundaries of Smith County or for delayed births that occurred in Smith County. Having remote access to the State�s records now gives the County Clerk�s Office the ability to print a record for anyone born in the state of Texas from 1926 to the present.

�We saw the frustration of our customers leaving with nothing in hand. People thought if they needed a copy of their Birth Certificate they could go to the County Clerk to receive it yet our records were limited,� Smith County Clerk Karen Phillips said. �Smith County is now able to print a birth certificate for anyone born in the state of Texas using Remote Birth Access.� Mrs. Phillips says the program was an added expense in the beginning but paid for itself in less than 2 months. �On January 2, 2013, we began providing birth certificates for our customers and to date have sold over 153 Certified Remote Birth certificates,� she said.