PROSECUTION FOR THOSE WHO REFUSE TO FILL OUT FORM UNLIKELY

Federal law requires people to fill out their census forms, but those who don't likely won't be prosecuted, Census Bureau officials say.

Census Bureau spokesman Tom Beaver said persons who refuse to fill out the census questionnaires face $100 fines.

But Beaver, who works in the bureau's regional office in Kansas City, doesn't know of any recent prosecutions.

"It is not in our best interests to fine people," said Beaver. He said there was a case in 1960 during the Eisenhower administration in which a man was investigated by a federal grand jury for refusing to fill out the census.

The man ultimately was fined $100, Beaver said.

It is a civic responsibility for people to fill out the forms, he said. "If people refuse to fill it out, they are only hurting themselves and their community."

Among other things, the census data is used to distribute federal grants to states and local governments.

Beaver said people also should fill out the census so that information is available for researching family genealogy in 2072. Individual census records are confidential for 72 years after the date of the census.

In Cape Girardeau County, 60 percent of the mailed out census forms have been returned, the bureau said.

Beaver said there are two forms a short form and a long form.

One in six people nationwide gets the long form, but in rural areas as many as one out of every two people may get the long form.

The short form has seven questions. The long form has 53 questions on it. By comparison, there were 81 questions on the census in 1940, Beaver said.

Some people complain that the census questions are intrusive, such as the number of plumbing facilities in a home.

But Beaver said the census questions are all necessary to meet federal laws.

Statistics on plumbing facilities in homes, for example, are used to identify areas eligible for public assistance programs and rehabilitation loans. Public health officials use such data to locate areas in danger of groundwater contamination and waterborne diseases.

Census data about age is used in allocating federal funds for programs for the elderly, women and children.

Laws that promote equal opportunity for women require census data be collected on gender.

A new subject this year deals with grandparents as caregivers as required by a new federal law.