Conference in Austin

Hey! I went to a conference in Austin last week. Our County Vital Statistics Unit received an award... not just any award... an EXEMPLARY award! The Williamson County Clerk had us come to the County Commissioner's meeting yesterday to officially give recognition to us within the County. Read the NEWS RELEASE that was published today: NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Nancy Rister FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
512-943-1515 (office)

COUNTY CLERK EARNS 11TH CONSECUTIVE 5-STAR VITAL REGISTRATION AWARD

December 17, 2008 (Williamson County, TX) -- During the 54th Annual Conference on Vital Statistics in Austin on Dec.10-12th, the Williamson County Clerk’s office was presented for the eleventh consecutive year the Five Star Vital Registration Award by the Texas Department of Health, State Health Services Vital Statistics Unit. This award is presented annually for exemplary work in the area of Vital Registration. The criteria for qualifications of this award include timeliness of filing death registrations entered into the state database by the clerk’s office, annual training at conferences, use of the Texas Electronic Registrar (TER) for all birth and death registrations, completing an assessment survey and providing documentation of recruiting physicians to sign-up and use TER-Death registration. This year's competition included over 529 local registrars, out of which there were only 65 local registrars across the state that met the five specific criteria needed to achieve this prestigious award. Forty-one were County Clerk’s offices. Three employees in the Vital Statistics area, Shirley Merkord, Susie Napier and Shelly Cole attended the conference. Mrs. Rister attributed the eleventh consecutive win to her staff who have strived to maintain the high standards. The annual three day conference included topics on Master Registrar Certification, Identity Theft, Twogether in Texas, Statutes Governing Local Registration, VS Document Fraud, Enhancing TER, Disaster Planning, Mexican Consulate, Remote Birth Access, Paternity Certification and others. The staff were recognized in Commissioner’s Court on Tuesday. Pictured below from left to right are: County Judge Dan A. Gattis; Shelly Cole-Deputy; Shirley Merkord-Deputy; and County Clerk Nancy Rister.