274 Relating to: keeping certain name changes confidential.

Date of enactment: April 9, 2012
2011 Assembly Bill 379 Date of publication*: April 23, 2012

* Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes 2009-10 : Effective date of acts. "Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication as designated" by the secretary of state [the date of publication may not be more than 10 working days after the date of enactment].

2011 WISCONSIN ACT 274

An Act to amend 786.36 (2); and to create 786.36 (2m) and 786.37 (4) of the statutes; relating to: keeping certain name changes confidential.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1 . 786.36 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

786.36 (2) The Except as provided in sub. (2m), the order shall be entered at length upon the records of the court and a certified copy of the record shall be recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county, who shall make an entry in a book to be kept by the register. The fee for recording a certified copy is the fee specified under s. 59.43 (2) (ag). If the person whose name is changed or established was born or married in this state, the clerk of the court shall send to the state registrar of vital statistics, on a form designed by the state registrar of vital statistics, an abstract of the record, duly certified, accompanied by the fee prescribed in s. 69.22, which fee the clerk of court shall charge to and collect from the petitioner. The state registrar of vital statistics shall then correct the birth record, marriage record or both, and direct the register of deeds and local registrar to make similar corrections on their records.

Section 2 . 786.36 (2m) of the statutes is created to read:

786.36 (2m) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), if the court determines that, pursuant to s. 786.37 (4), publication of the petition is not required, all records related to the petitioner's name change shall be confidential and are exempt from disclosure under s. 19.35 (1). The court shall transmit to the register of deeds a form that states the petitioner's former name and states that the new name is confidential and may not be disclosed except pursuant to par. (b). The fee for recording a certified copy is the fee specified under s. 59.43 (2) (ag). If the person whose name is changed or established was born in this state, the clerk of the court shall send to the state registrar of vital statistics, on a form designed by the state registrar of vital statistics, an abstract of the record, duly certified, accompanied by the fee prescribed in s. 69.22, which fee the clerk of court shall charge to and collect from the petitioner. The state registrar of vital statistics shall then correct the birth record and, upon request by the petitioner and payment by the petitioner of the fees required under s. 69.22, issue to the petitioner the number of certified copies of the corrected birth record requested by the petitioner.

(b) Notwithstanding ss. 69.20 and 69.21, information that is confidential under this subsection may not be disclosed by the state registrar of vital statistics, the register of deeds, or a local registrar except pursuant to a court order. A court may order disclosure of confidential information upon good cause shown and upon determining that the safety of the petitioner is not jeopardized by disclosure.

Section 3 . 786.37 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

786.37 (4) Subsection (1) does not apply if the petitioner shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that publication of his or her petition could endanger him or her and that he or she is not seeking a name change in order to avoid a debt or conceal a criminal record.

Section 4 . Initial applicability.

(1) This act first applies to petitions that are filed on the effective date of this subsection.