INDIANAPOLIS | Hoosiers can now add reduced hours at the state records office to the list of state services affected by budget reductions.
Starting Monday, the State Vital Records Office in Indianapolis will no longer offer walk-in service on Mondays. The office will be open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.
"In the interest of saving taxpayer money through smarter, more efficient government practices, we took a hard look at our hours of operation and decided to close on Mondays to realign our work force and focus staff resources on those days on processing Internet, fax and mail requests, as well as answering customer phone calls," State Registrar Erin Kellam said.
The State Department of Health operates the Vital Records Office. The office maintains duplicate records of all births and deaths in each of Indiana's 92 counties.
Copies of birth and death records will still be available during the open walk-in hours or can be ordered from the records office via mail, phone or Internet.
Birth and death records are also available from the health department in the county where the event occurred.
Gary and East Chicago both have a city health department that maintains the records of births and deaths in each city.
Since July 2009, Indiana government spending has exceeded state revenue by more than $1 billion. Gov. Mitch Daniels has ordered state agencies to reduce their spending by 15 percent to fix the deficit.