toledoblade.com --

Beverly Todd Reed has two file cabinets full of ancestors.

In the last 20 years she's methodically tracked down, sorted, and stored copies of birth and death certificates and other information on her ancestors dating to the Revolutionary War.

"It's addicting," she says of her genealogy hobby, a hobby shared by millions of Americans.

But Mrs. Reed says if a bill passed by the Ohio House is approved by the Senate, her addiction will get a lot more expensive.

She - and many others who research their family trees - rely on copies of birth and death certificates. Ohio is one of only four states that allows anyone to obtain "uncertified" copies of these documents for mere pennies in some places but usually no more than a dollar.

But buried in the 2,281-page House budget bill is language that would prevent state and local officials from providing uncertified copies and instead offer only certified copies.

This change, along with a new state fee of $5 per copy, means certified copies will cost at least $12 because counties themselves can't charge any less than $7. The state already charges a fee of $3 for a child-abuse fund; the $5 fee would be on top of that.

Lucas County's fee is now $12. Adding on the $5 state fee to the tab would raise the price to $17, although local officials haven't settled on what to charge if the bill passes.

The new fee and elimination of uncertified copies are being proposed to fund Ohio's efforts to modernize and digitize vital records as well as cut down on fraudulent use of vital records, according to Jay Carey, Ohio Department of Health spokesman.

The modernization will speed reporting of crucial health data, something for which Ohio is one of the worst states in the country, according to Mr. Carey.

That doesn't help the frustrated Mrs. Reed, who says state officials don't realize that some people researching their family trees make dozens of uncertified copies for their records.

At pennies a page, she says, it's no big deal. But at $12 a shot ...

"It's going to have a very negative impact on genealogy, which is one of the biggest hobbies in the country right now," says Mrs. Reed, who's president of the Lucas County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

Tom Neel, library director at the Mansfield-based Ohio Genealogical Society, the largest state genealogical society in the country, agrees.

"To pay $12 for a copy, it will really put family historians out of business," he says.

And Wendy Herr, executive director of the National Genealogical Society, says Mrs. Reed is right about the popularity of genealogy.

"At any given time, 100 million Americans are doing some sort of research looking for people they're related to," she says.

Because many states have fees similar to Ohio's proposal, she says she doubts it will shut off family historians but it will make the hobby more expensive.

"You may need 50 or 100 copies," to start researching a family tree, she says.

While fees are a concern, she says she's more concerned at the limited access to vital records in many states.

Michigan, for example, charges $15 per certified copy, and provides copies only to those requesting their own vital records, legal guardians, or heirs of the person on the record. For example, a husband helping his wife research her family can't get vital record copies of his wife's ancestors.

Some states have passed even stricter access laws, she says, primarily motivated by fears of identity theft and other fraudulent use.

Mr. Carey emphasizes that the proposal won't change public access to vital records in Ohio, which is one of only 10 states with unlimited public access to such records.

But he says uncertified copies are so cheap, officials need to stop issuing them if only to prevent fraud.

The state health department gets some suspicious requests for vital records - such as someone requesting 200 uncertified copies at a time - but because of current state law the department has to provide the copies. For example, a birth certificate could provide the mother's maiden name of an individual - something used by many credit card companies to verify that people who telephone to ask about an account are who they say they are.

Raising the price should cut down on that somewhat because it makes it more costly, and thus less lucrative, for people who are seeking the records for improper purposes, Mr. Carey claims.

Alsredo Delgado, at the Ohio office of the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service - says his office hasn't noticed any problems with misuse of Ohio vital records.

Mr. Carey says once the state's vital records are digitized, the public eventually will be able to access vital records in their own home [although the actual printout won't resemble a certified copy]. Electronic kiosks will also be set up at every local registrar's office, he adds.

The tight state budget is pushing the modernization effort as well. Last year the state spent $200,000 searching for and making uncertified copies of vital records while taking in $3,500 because the state can charge only 5 cents a copy under current state law.

Storing vital records electronically would make them more secure from disaster, Mr. Carey says.

"Last year we had a fire on the floor above the records. There wasn't any damage, but it was pointed out what the potential loss could have been," he says.

Local officials welcome the modernization of vital records, but worry that cutting off uncertified copies and raising the price may chase away important revenue. Last year Lucas County alone issued 4,072 uncertified copies at $1 each and another 12,340 miniature laminated cards that contained basic vital statistic information the public could use as another form of identification.

The miniature cards have proven to be very popular in Lucas County and elsewhere, and, at $15 apiece in Lucas County, brought in needed revenue. However, the cards are no longer being issued because of identity theft worries. The state proposal also would prevent their issuance.

The added $5 state fee probably won't be much burden to parents, who usually request one or two certified copies of birth certificates of their children. But Debora Sentle, supervisor of vital statistics for the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, says local officials are worried the elimination of uncertified copies will cut down on revenue. She says she also is concerned the public will blame local officials for the changes instead of state officials.

Mrs. Reed says she's glad she's already got her file cabinets full of records and worries about others in Ohio and elsewhere thinking of taking up genealogy.

"A lot of people won't do it," she predicts, "because they'll say, `I can't afford it.'"

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