Bill Text: FL S1250 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Adoptee Birth Certificates
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Health Policy [S1250 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S1250-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1250 By Senator Taddeo 40-01079-18 20181250__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to adoptee birth certificates; 3 amending s. 382.015, F.S.; requiring the Department of 4 Health to issue a noncertified copy of an original 5 birth certificate to certain adoptees under certain 6 conditions; requiring the department to develop 7 certain forms and make such forms available to birth 8 parents; providing application procedures; requiring 9 the department to develop certain policies and 10 procedures by a specified date; authorizing the 11 department to charge a fee for issuing such 12 noncertified copy; providing construction; providing 13 an effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1. Section 382.015, Florida Statutes, is amended to 18 read: 19 382.015 New certificates of live birth; duty of clerks of 20 court and department; noncertified copy of original birth 21 certificate.—The clerk of the court in which any proceeding for 22 adoption, annulment of an adoption, affirmation of parental 23 status, or determination of paternity is to be registered,24 shall, within 30 days after the final disposition, forward to 25 the department a certified copy of the court order, or a report 26 of the proceedings upon a form to be furnished by the 27 department, together with sufficient information to identify the 28 original birth certificate and to enable the preparation of a 29 new birth certificate. The clerk of the court shall implement a 30 monitoring and quality control plan to ensure that all judicial 31 determinations of paternity are reported to the department in 32 compliance with this section. The department shall track 33 paternity determinations reported monthly by county, monitor 34 compliance with the 30-day timeframe, and report the data to the 35 clerks of the court quarterly. 36 (1) ADOPTION AND ANNULMENT OF ADOPTION.— 37 (a) Upon receipt of the report or certified copy of an 38 adoption decree, together with the information necessary to 39 identify the original certificate of live birth, and establish a 40 new certificate, the department shall prepare and file a new 41 birth certificate, absent objection by the court decreeing the 42 adoption, the adoptive parents, or the adoptee if of legal age. 43 The certificate shall bear the same file number as the original 44 birth certificate. All names and identifying information 45 relating to the adoptive parents entered on the new certificate 46 shall refer to the adoptive parents, but nothing in the 47 certificate shall refer to or designate the parents as being 48 adoptive. All other items not affected by adoption shall be 49 copied as on the original certificate, including the date of 50 registration and filing. 51 (b) Upon receipt of the report or certified copy of an 52 annulment-of-adoption decree, together with the sufficient 53 information to identify the original certificate of live birth, 54 the department shall, if a new certificate of birth was filed 55 following an adoption report or decree, remove the new 56 certificate and restore the original certificate to its original 57 place in the files, and the certificate so removed shall be 58 sealed by the department. 59 (c) Upon receipt of a report or certified copy of an 60 adoption decree or annulment-of-adoption decree for a person 61 born in another state, the department shall forward the report 62 or decree to the state of the registrant’s birth. If the adoptee 63 was born in Canada, the department shall send a copy of the 64 report or decree to the appropriate birth registration authority 65 in Canada. 66 (2) DETERMINATION OF PATERNITY.—Upon receipt of the report, 67 a certified copy of a final decree of determination of 68 paternity, or a certified copy of a final judgment of 69 dissolution of marriage which requires the former husband to pay 70 child support for the child, together with sufficient 71 information to identify the original certificate of live birth, 72 the department shall prepare and file a new birth certificate, 73 which shall bear the same file number as the original birth 74 certificate. The registrant’s name shall be entered as decreed 75 by the court or as reflected in the final judgment or support 76 order. The names and identifying information of the parents 77 shall be entered as of the date of the registrant’s birth. 78 (3) AFFIRMATION OF PARENTAL STATUS.—Upon receipt of an 79 order of affirmation of parental status issued pursuant to s. 80 742.16, together with sufficient information to identify the 81 original certificate of live birth, the department shall prepare 82 and file a new birth certificate which shall bear the same file 83 number as the original birth certificate. The names and 84 identifying information of the registrant’s parents entered on 85 the new certificate shall be the commissioning couple, but the 86 new certificate may not make reference to or designate the 87 parents as the commissioning couple. 88 (4) SUBSTITUTION OF NEW CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH FOR ORIGINAL. 89 When a new certificate of birth is prepared, the department 90 shall substitute the new certificate of birth for the original 91 certificate on file. All copies of the original certificate of 92 live birth in the custody of a local registrar or other state 93 custodian of vital records shall be forwarded to the State 94 Registrar. Thereafter, when a certified copy of the certificate 95 of birth or portion thereof is issued, it shall be a copy of the 96 new certificate of birth or portion thereof, except when a court 97 order requires issuance of a certified copy of the original 98 certificate of birth. In an adoption, change in paternity, 99 affirmation of parental status, undetermined parentage, or 100 court-ordered substitution, the department shall place the 101 original certificate of birth and all papers pertaining thereto 102 under seal, not to be broken except by order of a court of 103 competent jurisdiction or as otherwise provided by law. 104 (5) NONCERTIFIED COPY OF ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE.— 105 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an adoptee 106 who is at least 18 years of age or, if the adoptee is deceased, 107 the adoptee’s descendants may apply to the department for a 108 noncertified copy of the adoptee’s original birth certificate. 109 The department shall issue a noncertified copy of an original 110 birth certificate within 90 days after receipt of the 111 application if the application complies with the requirements of 112 this subsection. 113 (b) The department shall develop and make available to each 114 birth parent named on the original birth certificate a contact 115 preference form on which the birth parent may state his or her 116 preference regarding being contacted by an adoptee who is his or 117 her birth child. The birth parent shall choose from the 118 following options on the contact preference form: 119 1. “I would like to be contacted. I have completed the 120 contact preference form and am filing it with the Department of 121 Health.” 122 2. “I would prefer to be contacted only through an 123 intermediary. I have completed the contact preference form and 124 am filing it with the Department of Health.” 125 3. “Do not contact me. I may change this preference by 126 filling out another contact preference form. I have completed 127 the contact preference form and am filing it with the Department 128 of Health.” 129 (c) The department shall also provide a birth parent with a 130 medical history form which may be completed and returned to the 131 department with the contact preference form and which shall 132 include the following statement: “I have completed a medical 133 history form and am filing it with the Department of Health. I 134 understand that information used or disclosed on this form may 135 be subject to additional disclosure by the recipient and may not 136 be protected by the privacy regulations of the federal Health 137 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).” 138 (d) The department shall develop policies and procedures 139 necessary to implement this subsection by February 1, 2019. 140 (e) The department may charge a fee for issuing a 141 noncertified copy of an original birth certificate. The fee may 142 not exceed the fee for a certified copy of an original birth 143 certificate under s. 382.0255. 144 (f) This subsection does not authorize disclosure of an 145 adoptee’s birth record to the adoptee’s birth parents. 146 (6)(5)FORM.—Except for certificates of foreign birth which 147 are registered as provided in s. 382.017, and delayed 148 certificates of birth which are registered as provided in ss. 149 382.019 and 382.0195, all original, new, or amended certificates 150 of live birth shall be identical in form, regardless of the 151 marital status of the parents or the fact that the registrant is 152 adopted or of undetermined parentage. 153 (7)(6)RULES.—The department shall adopt and enforce all 154 rules necessary for carrying out the provisions of this section. 155 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.