Declaration of Domestic Partnership Forms Available Starting February 1st

It will take six weeks after the record is registered to be transferred to the Center for Health Statistics and entered into the vital records system.

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(SALEM, Ore.) - The Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) will make domestic partnership declaration forms available starting February 1st, following today's federal court ruling that allows Oregon's domestic partnership law to go into effect.

Forms are on the Web at oregon.gov/DHS/ph/chs/index.shtml. They also will be available at county clerks' offices throughout the state starting February 1st, said Jennifer Woodward, state registrar in the DHS Public Health Division. County clerk office locations are listed in the white pages of the telephone book under the County Government section.

After February 1st, forms can be obtained via mail from the DHS Center for Health Statistics, Attn: Mary Ann Jensen, 800 N.E. Oregon St., Suite 225, Portland, OR 97232; or requested via e-mail at Mary.ann.jensen@state.or.us.

Completed, signed and notarized forms can be registered at any county clerk's office. Certified copies of declarations filed at the county can be purchased when they are filed or any time after the declaration is registered. People should contact the county clerk's office for fee information, according to Woodward.

County clerks will send registered Declaration of Domestic Partnership forms to the DHS Center for Health Statistics on a monthly basis, where they will be filed as vital records.

Certified vital record copies of declarations filed at the Center for Health Statistics can be purchased by family members, legal representatives, or persons or organizations with a personal or property right. Cost is $20 for a first copy and $15 for each additional copy ordered at the same time.

Woodward advises individuals to allow six weeks after the record is registered with the County Clerk to allow time for the record to be transferred to the Center for Health Statistics and entered into the vital records system.