The Indiana Court of Appeals has clarified the process transgender residents can use to legally change their names or birth certificates.
The court ruled unanimously in reversing a Tippecanoe County judge's decision that required notices about name or gender changes be published at least three times in a newspaper in the petitioner's home county before a name-change could occur.
The court found that county judges can't add conditions to requests for gender changes to birth certificates if a good faith test is satisfied.
A 2014 ruling by the court found that gender changes to birth certificates are allowed if a judge can determine it's not being made for an unlawful purpose.
State law requires publication when changing names, with exemptions for some individuals.