Our vision is to provide a record of the vital events of the citizens of Utah that is timely, accurate, and secure.

The Utah DHHS Office of Vital Records and Statistics is divided into three groups: Issuance, Registration, and Data.

The Issuance team is the front end of the office. They perform the daily work of issuing certificates, managing the adoption registry, amending records, and answering phone calls from all types of vital records customers including the general public and external partners. The issuance team supports the local health departments by helping explain the application of laws, administrative rules, and policies; completing affidavits; providing certificate images; training; and audits. This team also includes an archivist who interfaces with the records center to archive and manage records as they age and become publicly available. 

The Registration Team includes both birth and death registration. This team works very closely with either our partners at hospitals and with midwives for the birth team; or funeral homes and medical certifiers for the death team. The manager of the team is our health informaticist. He makes sure that our databases collect and store the vital records data and that it is available for public health and research purposes.

The Data team at the state office has a number of responsibilities. Of primary importance is providing meaningful and accessible data to researchers, other public health programs and government agencies. The use of data is carefully tracked and monitored to assure privacy and security. The data team also prepares reports that are available to the public. OVRS has many old documents that are being digitized through imaging or data entry by the Data Team.

Nicole Bissonette is the director of the Office of Vital Records and Statistics and the State Registrar. She began her career with Utah State government in 2000 as program specialist in the Arthritis Program at the Department of Health.  She has worked in administration in multiple public health programs throughout her state service career. She moved to the Office of Vital Records and Statistics in December 2024.

In addition, the thirteen local health departments, which are county offices or associations of several counties, can also print and distribute vital record certificates. They each have a local registrar. More information about these offices can be found on their individual webpages.