so...that "original" birth certificate

Contact the county clerk office in the county listed on your cert. and request a certified replacement. Any foreseeable issues will be eliminated. When that certified replacement is in your hand, get a passport.

 

So original doesn't really mean original.

 

No - we've sent off for two or 3 replacements when family members have mis-placed them, just as @Alaska76 said - contact county court clerk.

Passport application is at the post office.

 

Passport I have, but I haven't seen my original birth certificate (may have even been a copy of the original issued at birth) in over 30 years and back then it was already in tatters held together by scotch tape. I know better than to ask my mother if she knows where it is now.

But it is probably best I leave this thread now as Birth Certs are a serious sore point with me.

 

I had to drive to my State Dept. of Health to get a certified copy of my birth certificate for my HazMat endorsement.

I had a copy of my birth certificate, but it was a Xerox copy. Since I was born in a different state than I currently live in, the local DMV wanted an original or a certified copy.

If you were born in the state that you now reside in, your birth certificate may be on the local DMV's computer. If you were born in another state, your birth certificate will not be on the local DMV's computer, and that's why they want to see the original or certified copy.

The birth certificate records was in the Vital Records division of the State Health Department. They should have a website with info for your state.

Edit: The certified copy was stamped with the state seal.

 

A lot of what people have on hand are birth certificates that are handed out by the hospital and those are not official. Those are just for mommy and daddy.