Codebook for Nebraska Local
Laws: Health Department
Services and Duties - Vital
Statistics
Prepared by LawAtlas Legal Team
April 2015
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NEBRASKA LOCAL LAWS: HEALTH DEPARTMENT SERVICES AND
DUTIES - VITAL STATISTICS
April 2015
Codebook
This codebook describes the variables in a dataset that examines variation in local laws
regulating regulating Omaha's local health department's powers and duties. This dataset
is current through May 1, 2015. The jurisdiction selected for measurement is Douglas
County, Omaha.
There are six standard variables in every LawAtlas dataset. They are:
ID:
An identification code generated by the LawAtlas Workbench.
FIPS CODE:
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) codes are a standardized set of
numeric codes issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to ensure
uniform identification of geographic entities through all federal government agencies.
JURISDICTION:
This is a dropdown selection in each coding form. It includes the jurisdictions coded in the
dataset.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This date (MM/DD/YYYY) is the most recent effective date of the legal text captured for
this place. The effective date represents the date the policy coded was put into effect.
VALID THROUGH DATE:
This date (MM/DD/YYYY) is the last date the policy was in effect as reflected by the legal
text captured to code this policy.
LEGAL TEXT:
This is a text box that captures all legal text relevant to the coding questions. This will not
download into Microsoft Excel.
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Questions
Question 1:
Are there local laws regulating vital statistics?
Question Type:
Binary - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_Laws
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 2:
What types of vital statistics do these local laws cover?
Question Type:
Categorical - check all that apply
Variable Name:
VS_Topics_Births
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 3:
What types of vital statistics do these local laws cover?
Question Type:
Categorical - check all that apply
Variable Name:
VS_Topics_Deaths
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 4:
What types of vital statistics do these local laws cover?
Question Type:
Categorical - check all that apply
Variable Name:
VS_Topics_Physician registration
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 5:
Where are birth certificates required to be filed?
Question Type:
Categorical - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_BirthFiled
Variable Values: 1
Value Label:
1 = Local health department
Question 6:
Are there fees to receive or search for a birth record?
Question Type:
Binary - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_Fees
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
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Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 7:
What is the fee for to receive or search for a birth record?
Question Type:
Categorical - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_FeeAmount
Variable Values: 1
Value Label:
1 = One dollar
Question 8:
Who maintains death certificates?
Question Type:
Categorical - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_DeathCertificates
Variable Values: 1, 2
Value Label:
1 = Local health director
Value Label:
2 = State Bureau of Vital Statistics
Question 9:
Does the local law explicitly forbid interments other than authorized cemeteries within city limits?
Question Type:
Binary - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_Interments
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 10:
Must a physician register with the health director when practicing in the county?
Question Type:
Binary - mutually exclusive
Variable Name:
VS_PhysicianRegister
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 11:
What must be registered?
Question Type:
Categorical - check all that apply
Variable Name:
VS_Register_Name
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 12:
What must be registered?
Question Type:
Categorical - check all that apply
Variable Name:
VS_Register_Place of business and office
Variable Values: 0, 1
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Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
Question 13:
What must be registered?
Question Type:
Categorical - check all that apply
Variable Name:
VS_Register_Every change in location of residence or office
5
Variable Values: 0, 1
Value Label:
0 = No
Value Label:
1 = Yes
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Day/Year