Not surprising from the state made famous for crooked politics, the Illinois Department of Public Health launched an Electronic Death Registration System, which helps prevent fraudulent certificates from being made.  It required that all death certificates be printed on a standard secure green paper. The Rockford Register Star reported that the city of Belvidere pays $800 for a six-month supply of about 1,000 sheets.

At the Belvidere City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Dec. 28, The committee considered upping the prices because of the new state-mandated paper requirements versus printing on standard white copy paper. Letters explaining the increase were mailed to funeral homes in Winnebago and Boone counties in February 2010.  The real question was how widespread was the death certificate fraud in Illinois?

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