36 CFR § 1223.18 - Must vital records be in a particular form or format?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t36/s1223.18"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "36 CFR § 1223.18 - Must vital records be in a particular form or format?"
title_number: 36
title_name: "Parks, Forests, and Public Property"
section_number: "1223.18"
section_name: "Must vital records be in a particular form or format?"
chapter_name: "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "RECORDS MANAGEMENT"
part_number: "1223"
part_name: "MANAGING VITAL RECORDS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "44 U.S.C. 3101; E.O. 12656, 53 FR 47491, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 585; E.O. 13231, 66 FR 53063, 3 CFR, 2001 Comp., p. 805."
regulatory_source: "74 FR 51014, Oct. 2, 2009, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1223"
---


# 1223.18 Must vital records be in a particular form or format?

(a) Vital records can be original records or copies of records. Consult NARA records management guidance on vital records at *http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/vital-records/index.html* for further information.

(b) Records may be maintained on a variety of media including paper, magnetic tape, optical disk, photographic film, and microform. In selecting the media, agencies must ensure that equipment needed to read the specific media will be available following an emergency or disaster.