SMITH COUNTY (KYTX) - 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.
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.
