Montrose County approves VitalChek contract to provide online vital records and retain service revenue locally

Montrose County commissioners voted March 4 to approve a contract with VitalChek that will let county residents request vital records — such as birth and death certificates — online and have the county receive associated service revenue previously routed to the state.

Mirza Ahmed, who presented the request during a Board of Health public hearing, described VitalChek as a national vendor that receives online applications and performs administrative intake. "VitalChek is the organization that provides service across more than 500 counties plus all the states," Ahmed said. Under the proposed arrangement, Ahmed told the board, VitalChek would receive applications and perform front‑end processing, but county staff would perform the due diligence, determine eligibility and print certificates locally.

Ahmed said the county will charge customers the usual fees and that, once the county holds its own contract with VitalChek, revenues that previously went to the state will be retained locally on a daily remittance schedule. He and other speakers emphasized that sensitive records and the verification process remain under local control: "All the due diligence will be done by us, and VitalChek will do the admin work only," Ahmed said.

County staff and a commissioner also noted security and administrative safeguards supporting the arrangement. A motion to approve the contract was made and seconded; commissioners approved it by voice vote.

The contract will serve Montrose and Ouray counties and is expected to provide modest, ongoing revenue to the county public health budget; the transcript did not specify annual revenue estimates. County staff will manage verification and printing, and VitalChek will perform online intake and fulfillment logistics.