The City of Orange is working with Orange County to transfer the issuing of birth and death certificates totally to be the responsibility of the county. Ramie Howlett works for the City of Orange’s registrar office which handles the issuing of birth and death certificates for the city. Consolidating the services into one office will make it more convenient for the public that need those documents. Howlett said the city is considering transferring those duties to the county which will include an additional source of revenue for the county with the sale of those documents.
Death certificates sell for $20 and additional copies of the certificates go for $3. Similar fees are charged for birth certificates. Howlett says the cutting back of services at the local hospital has greatly reduced the city issuing birth certificates. Howlett indicates a recent audit by the State of Texas showed a significant decrease in services by the city of Orange since the closing of the obstetrics unit closed in 2013 at the Baptist Hospital in Orange. The audit recommended a consolidation as well since the state oversees several hundred offices.
The transfer of the local registrar office was discussed Monday in a workshop by the Commissioners Court. The County Clerk’s Office and Justices of the Peace from Precinct 1 and 3 had representatives at the workshop. They agreed to discuss preparations necessary to handle the transfer over the next two weeks. The cost of the transfer was estimated to be about $10,000 for the county. The Court agreed another workshop would be necessary, possibly after the Thanksgiving holiday, before a decision could be made to approve the transfer.
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