WYOMING – With an aim of boosting child abuse prevention, Vital Statistics Services (VSS) will resume collecting an added $5 surcharge for many of its services beginning July 1.
VSS is part of the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) and is the only source for Wyoming’s official certificates. VSS will again start collecting a $5 surcharge for birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates and related searches.
The surcharge expired in the past year, but was recently renewed by the Wyoming Legislature.
The money collected will benefit the Wyoming Children’s Trust Fund, which is a board appointed by Wyoming’s governor. The group works to ensure child abuse and neglect prevention is a priority in the state.
Guy Beaudoin, deputy state registrar with WDH, said VSS will assess a $5 surcharge for each issued certificate and for searches completed by his staff for vital events.
“For example, if an applicant requests two birth certificates, the total bill would be $40 with the regular $15 charge for each certificate plus the added $5 surcharge for each,” Beaudoin said.
Beaudoin also reminded people to be careful with online companies offering birth, death and other certificate services.
“Some of these secondary providers charge as much as three or four times the state fees we charge without any true benefits for consumers,” he said.
To download applications needed to order certificates by mail, visit the official WDH web site at https://health.wyo.gov/admin/vitalstatistics/. People may also call 307-777-7591 or visit VSS in Cheyenne at 2300 Capitol Avenue on the first floor of the Hathaway Building.
