Bill Text: GA HB748 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Adoption; issuance of copy of an original birth certificate to certain adult persons; provide

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 5-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-05 - House Committee Favorably Reported [HB748 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-HB748-Comm_Sub.html

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12 LC 33 4687S

The House Committee on Judiciary offers the following substitute to HB 748:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Code Section 19-8-23 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to adoption records, and Code Section 31-10-14 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to issuance of a new birth certificate following adoption, legitimation, or paternity determination, so as to provide for the issuance of a copy of an original birth certificate to certain adult persons who were adopted; to conform a provision sealing records relating to adoptions; to provide for a fee and a waiting period; to provide for the form of such copy; to provide for a contact preference form to indicate a birth parent's desire or lack of desire to be contacted; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Code Section 19-8-23 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to adoption records, is amended by revising subsection (a) as follows:

"(a) The original petition, all amendments and exhibits thereto, all motions, documents, affidavits, records, and testimony filed in connection therewith, and all decrees or orders of any kind whatsoever, except the original investigation report and background information referred to in Code Section 19-8-20, shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose and properly indexed; and the book shall be part of the records of the court in each county which has jurisdiction over matters of adoption in that county. All Except as otherwise provided for birth certificates by subsection (h) of Code Section 31-10-14, all of the records, including the docket book, of the court granting the adoption, of the department, and of the child-placing agency that relate in any manner to the adoption shall be kept sealed and locked. This subsection shall not supersede or affect the availability of birth certificates pursuant to the procedure contained in subsection (h) of Code Section 31-10-14. The records may be examined by the parties at interest in the adoption and their attorneys when, after written petition has been presented to the court having jurisdiction and after the department and the appropriate child-placing agency have received at least 30 days' prior written notice of the filing of such petition, the matter has come on before the court in chambers and, good cause having been shown to the court, the court has entered an order permitting such examination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the adoptee who is the subject of the records sought to be examined is less than 18 years of age at the time the petition is filed and the petitioner is someone other than one of the adoptive parents of the adoptee, then the department shall provide written notice of such proceedings to the adoptive parents by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, at the last address the department has for such adoptive parents and the court shall continue any hearing on the petition until not less than 60 days after the date the notice was sent. Each such adoptive parent shall have the right to appear in person or through counsel and show cause why such records should not be examined. Adoptive parents may provide the department with their current address for purposes of receiving notice under this subsection by mailing that address to:

Office of Adoptions
Department of Human Services
Atlanta, Georgia"

SECTION 2.

Code Section 31-10-14 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to issuance of a new birth certificate following adoption, legitimation, or paternity determination, is amended by adding new subsections to read as follows:

"(h)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section or any other provision of law, any person who is 18 years of age or older, who was born in this state, and who has had an original birth certificate removed from his or her files due to an adoption may receive a copy of that original birth certificate by complying with the provisions of this subsection. The state registrar shall require a person seeking an original birth certificate to pay the fee for a birth certificate and observe the appropriate waiting period. The copy of the original birth certificate shall be in a form that clearly indicates it is not a certified copy and that it may not be used for legal purposes.

(2) If the person who was born in this state and who had an original birth certificate removed from his or her files due to an adoption is deceased, any parent, sibling, or descendant of that person may also receive a copy of the decedent's original birth certificate pursuant to the procedures contained in this subsection.

(3) This subsection shall apply to all applications for original birth certificates for adopted persons presented to the state registrar on or after July 1, 2012.

(i)(1) As used in this subsection, the term:

(A) 'Adoptee' means the person who was born in this state and who has had an original birth certificate sealed due to an adoption.

(B) 'Birth parent' means the person who is the biological parent of an adoptee and who is named as either the mother or father on the original birth certificate of the adoptee.

(C) 'Contact preference form' means the form developed by the state registrar pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(2) The state registrar shall provide upon request to a birth parent a contact preference form as described in this subsection.

(3) The state registrar shall prescribe and, upon request, shall make available to each birth parent of an adoptee named on the original birth certificate a contact preference form on which the birth parent may state a preference regarding contact by an adoptee who is the birth child of the birth parent. The contact preference form shall include a place for the birth parent to provide his or her current name and contact information. The completed contact preference form shall be returned to the state registrar. The contact preference form shall provide the birth parent with the following options from which the birth parent shall select only one:

(A) 'I want to be contacted. I may change this preference by filling out another contact preference form.';

(B) 'I want to be contacted only through the adoption reunion registry established pursuant to subsection (f) of Code Section 19-8-23. I may change this preference by filling out another contact preference form.'; or

(C) 'I do not want to be contacted at this time. I may change this preference by filling out another contact preference form.'

(4) When the state registrar receives a completed contact preference form from a birth parent, the state registrar shall place the form on file and create an index of all contact preference forms received. If a birth parent shall file more than one contact preference form, only the most recent contact preference form filed shall be valid and provided to the adoptee as provided in this subsection. When the state registrar receives a request for an original birth certificate pursuant to subsection (h) of this Code section, the state registrar shall open the adoptee's sealed file and examine the adoptee's original birth certificate for the names of the birth parent or parents. The state registrar shall search the contact preference form index for the name of the birth parent or parents, and if a contact preference form is on file for such birth parent or parents, the state registrar shall provide the adoptee with a copy of such contact preference form.

(5) The state registrar shall maintain the following statistics, which shall be made available to the general public on an annual basis or more frequently if possible:

(A) The number of original birth certificates released since the effective date of this subsection;

(B) The number of contact preference forms filed; and

(C) The number of birth parents who indicated on the contact preference form that they:

(i) Wanted to be contacted;

(ii) Wanted to be contacted but only through the adoption reunion registry established pursuant to subsection (f) of Code section 19-8-23; or

(iii) Did not want to be contacted."

SECTION 3.

This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2012.

SECTION 4.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.