(a)        On or before the fifteenth day of the month, the register of deeds shall transmit to the State Registrar a record of each marriage ceremony performed during the preceding calendar month for which a license was issued by the register of deeds. The State Registrar shall prescribe a form containing the information required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-16 and additional information to conform with the requirements of the federal agency responsible for national vital statistics. The form shall be the official form of a marriage license, certificate of marriage and application for marriage license.

(b)        Each form signed and issued by the register of deeds, assistant register of deeds or deputy register of deeds shall constitute an original or a duplicate original. Upon request, the State Registrar shall furnish a true copy of the marriage registration. The copy shall have the same evidentiary value as the original.

(c)        The register of deeds shall provide copies or abstracts of marriage certificates to any person upon request. Certified copies of these certificates shall be provided only to those persons described in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-93(c).

(d)       Marriage certificates maintained by the local register of deeds shall be open to inspection and examination. (1961, c. 862; 1969, c. 1031, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 128; 1977, c. 1110, s. 3; 1983, c. 891, s. 2; 1985, c. 325, s. 2; 2001-62, s. 15; 2001-487, s. 83.)