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Woman Charged For Misspelled Birth Certificates

CHICAGO (CBS)--A misspelled birth certificate has cost one Illinois woman more than a few dollars, and she's left wondering why she had to pay for the county's mistake.

Jewel Lucas took her mother's birth certificate to the Cook County Clerk's office in the Markham County Courthouse to get a correction on her deceased mother's birth certificate.

When it came back, her name was still spelled incorrectly.

Two months later she brought her son's birth certificate in for a correction, and it also came back with a misspelling.

He needed the document corrected to get a state ID so he could apply for work, Lucas said.

Lucas ended up paying nearly $50 by the time she received the correct documents.

"You're asked to repay them to correct their mistake," Lucas said.

The clerk's office in south suburban Glenwood told CBS 2 that Lucas should have received the corrected birth certificates at no cost.

 

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