Bill Text: IA HF119 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the obtaining of a copy of an original birth certificate by an adult adoptee, and providing for fees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-26 - Introduced, referred to Human Resources. H.J. 127. [HF119 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF119-Introduced.html

House File 119 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  WESSEL=KROESCHELL

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the obtaining of a copy of an original birth
  2    certificate by an adult adoptee, and providing for fees.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 2092YH (2) 87
    pf/nh

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 144.24, Code 2017, is amended to read as
  1  2 follows:
  1  3    144.24  Substituting new for original birth certificates ==
  1  4 inspection.
  1  5    1.  If a new certificate of birth is established, the actual
  1  6 place and date of birth shall be shown on the certificate. The
  1  7 certificate shall be substituted for the original certificate
  1  8 of birth. Thereafter,
  1  9    2.  Following substitution of the original certificate of
  1 10 birth with a new certificate of birth, the original certificate
  1 11 and the evidence of adoption, paternity, legitimation, or sex
  1 12 change shall not be subject to inspection except under order of
  1 13 a court of competent jurisdiction, including but not limited
  1 14 to an order issued pursuant to section 600.16A, as provided
  1 15 in section 144.24A, or as provided by administrative rule for
  1 16 statistical or administrative purposes only. However,
  1 17    3.  Notwithstanding subsection 2, the state registrar shall,
  1 18 upon the application of an adult adopted person, a biological
  1 19 parent, an adoptive parent, or the legal representative of the
  1 20 adult adopted person, the biological parent, or the adoptive
  1 21 parent, inspect the original certificate and the evidence of
  1 22 adoption and reveal to the applicant the date of the adoption
  1 23 and the name and address of the court which issued the adoption
  1 24 decree.
  1 25    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  144.24A  Access to original birth
  1 26 certificate ==== application ==== fees ==== contact preference form.
  1 27    1.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
  1 28 an adult adopted person who was born in this state and whose
  1 29 original certificate of birth was substituted with a new
  1 30 certificate of birth pursuant to section 144.24 based upon the
  1 31 adoption, may apply for and obtain a noncertified copy of the
  1 32 persons' original certificate of birth in accordance with this
  1 33 section.
  1 34    a.  The adult adopted person shall be at least eighteen years
  1 35 of age at the time the application is filed.
  2  1    b.  The adult adopted person shall file a written application
  2  2 along with proof of identification with the state registrar
  2  3 requesting a noncertified copy of the original certificate of
  2  4 birth.
  2  5    c.  Upon receipt of the written application and proof of
  2  6 identification and payment of a fee, the state registrar shall
  2  7 issue a noncertified copy of the original certificate of birth
  2  8 to the applicant.  At the time of such issuance, the state
  2  9 registrar shall also provide to the applicant any contact
  2 10 preference form completed and submitted to the state registrar
  2 11 pursuant to subsection 2.
  2 12    2.  a.  The state registrar shall develop a contact
  2 13 preference form on which a biological parent may state a
  2 14 preference regarding contact by an adult adopted person
  2 15 following application for and issuance of the noncertified copy
  2 16 of the original certificate of birth under this section.  The
  2 17 preferences available to the biological parent shall include
  2 18 all of the following, from which the biological parent may
  2 19 choose only one:
  2 20    (1)  "I would like to be contacted. I have completed this
  2 21 contact preference form and am filing the form with the state
  2 22 registrar."
  2 23    (2)  "I would prefer to be contacted only through an
  2 24 intermediary. I have completed this contact preference form
  2 25 and am filing the form with the state registrar."
  2 26    (3)  "I do not want to be contacted.  I may change this
  2 27 preference by filling out another contact preference form. I
  2 28 have completed this contact preference form and am filing the
  2 29 form with the state registrar."
  2 30    b.  The contact preference form shall be provided to the
  2 31 biological parent in accordance with section 600A.4.
  2 32    c.  Upon receipt of a completed contact preference form, the
  2 33 state registrar shall attach the completed form to the original
  2 34 certificate of birth.
  2 35    3.  The state registrar shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter
  3  1 17A to administer this section including rules relating to all
  3  2 of the following:
  3  3    a.  Establishment of fees  pursuant to section 144.46 for
  3  4 issuance of the noncertified copy of the original certificate
  3  5 of birth under this section.
  3  6    b.  The application form and proof of identification
  3  7 requirements relative to application for a noncertified copy of
  3  8 an original certificate of birth.
  3  9    c.  The contact preference form.
  3 10    Sec. 3.  Section 600.13, subsection 5, Code 2017, is amended
  3 11 to read as follows:
  3 12    5.  An interlocutory or a final adoption decree shall be
  3 13 entered with the clerk of court. Such decree shall set forth
  3 14 any facts of the adoption petition which have been proven to
  3 15 the satisfaction of the juvenile court or court and any other
  3 16 facts considered to be relevant by the juvenile court or court
  3 17 and shall grant the adoption petition. If so designated in
  3 18 the adoption decree, the name of the adopted person shall be
  3 19 changed by issuance of that decree. The clerk of the court
  3 20 shall, within thirty days of issuance, deliver one certified
  3 21 copy of any adoption decree to the petitioner, one copy of any
  3 22 adoption decree to the department and any agency or person
  3 23 making an independent placement who placed a minor person for
  3 24 adoption, and one certification certified copy of any adoption
  3 25 decree to the state registrar of vital statistics to prepare
  3 26 a certificate of adoption as prescribed in section 144.19 to
  3 27 the state registrar of vital statistics. Upon receipt of
  3 28 the certification certified copy of the adoption decree, the
  3 29 state registrar shall prepare a new birth certificate pursuant
  3 30 to section 144.23 and deliver to the parents named in the
  3 31 decree and any adult person adopted by the decree a copy of
  3 32 the new birth certificate. The parents shall pay the fee
  3 33 prescribed in section 144.46.  Upon receipt of the certified
  3 34 copy of the adoption decree, the state registrar shall also
  3 35 attach a copy of any contact preference form included with
  4  1 the certified copy to the original certificate of birth for
  4  2 the purposes of section 144.24A.  If the person adopted was
  4  3 born outside this state but in the United States, the state
  4  4 registrar shall forward the certification of adoption to the
  4  5 appropriate agency in the state of birth. A copy of any
  4  6 interlocutory adoption decree vacation shall be delivered and
  4  7 another birth certificate shall be prepared in the same manner
  4  8 as a certification of adoption is delivered and the birth
  4  9 certificate was originally prepared.
  4 10    Sec. 4.  Section 600.16A, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph
  4 11 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  4 12    All With the exception of access to the original certificate
  4 13 of birth as provided in section 144.24A, all of the papers and
  4 14 records pertaining to a termination of parental rights under
  4 15 chapter 600A and to an adoption shall not be open to inspection
  4 16 and the identity of the biological parents of an adopted
  4 17 person shall not be revealed except under any of the following
  4 18 circumstances:
  4 19    Sec. 5.  Section 600A.4, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended
  4 20 by adding the following new paragraph:
  4 21    NEW PARAGRAPH.  0f.  Shall be accompanied by a contact
  4 22 preference form completed by the biological parent of the
  4 23 person to be adopted  and attached to the original certificate
  4 24 of birth as provided in section 144.24A.  The contact
  4 25 preference form shall be attached to any termination of
  4 26 parental rights order issued pursuant to section 600A.9.
  4 27                           EXPLANATION
  4 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  4 29 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  4 30    This bill provides for access to an adult adopted person's
  4 31 original certificate of birth.
  4 32    The bill provides that an adult adopted person who was
  4 33 born in this state and whose original certificate of birth
  4 34 was substituted with a new certificate of birth based upon
  4 35 the adoption, may obtain a noncertified copy of the person's
  5  1 original certificate of birth as specified in the bill.
  5  2 These specifications include that the adult adopted person
  5  3 is at least 18 years of age at the time the application is
  5  4 filed and that the adult adopted person must file a written
  5  5 application along with proof of identification with the state
  5  6 registrar.  Upon  receipt of the written application and proof
  5  7 of identification and payment of a fee, the state registrar
  5  8 shall issue a noncertified copy of the original certificate
  5  9 of birth to the applicant.  At the time of such issuance, the
  5 10 state registrar must also provide to the applicant any contact
  5 11 preference form completed and submitted to the state registrar.
  5 12 The contact preference form, developed by the state registrar,
  5 13 is a form to be completed and submitted by the biological
  5 14 parent stating a preference regarding contact by an adult
  5 15 adopted person following application for and issuance of the
  5 16 noncertified copy of the original certificate of birth.  The
  5 17 preferences available to the biological parent include a choice
  5 18 of one of the following:  (1) "I would like to be contacted.
  5 19 I have completed this contact preference form and am filing
  5 20 the form with the state registrar." (2) "I would prefer to be
  5 21 contacted only through an intermediary. I have completed this
  5 22 contact preference form and am filing the form with the state
  5 23 registrar." (3)  "I do not want to be contacted.  I may change
  5 24 this preference by filling out another contact preference form.
  5 25 I have completed this contact preference form and am filing the
  5 26 form with the state registrar."  The contact preference form
  5 27 is to be provided to an individual who is in the process of
  5 28 terminating parental rights and is to be attached to a release
  5 29 of custody and the termination of parental rights order, which
  5 30 in turn is attached to the adoption petition and the adoption
  5 31 decree.  A certified copy of the adoption decree, including any
  5 32 copy of the contact preference form, is to be sent to the state
  5 33 registrar for the purpose of, in addition to the preparation
  5 34 of a new birth certificate, attaching the contact preference
  5 35 form to the original certificate of birth. The bill directs
  6  1 the state registrar to adopt rules pursuant to Code chapter
  6  2 17A to administer the provisions of the bill including rules
  6  3 relating to fees for issuance of the noncertified copy of the
  6  4 original certificate of birth, the application form and proof
  6  5 of identification requirements relative to application for a
  6  6 noncertified copy of an original certificate of birth, and
  6  7 the contact preference form.   Fees established are subject to
  6  8 Code section 144.46 including provisions requiring that fees
  6  9 collected are to be deposited in the general fund of the state
  6 10 and the vital records fund in accordance with an apportionment
  6 11 established by rule.
  6 12    The bill includes conforming changes in the Code. The
  6 13 bill provides an exception to the provisions and penalties
  6 14 relating to the opening of papers and records pertaining to a
  6 15 termination of parental rights or an adoption, to allow for
  6 16 access to the original certificate of birth by an adult adopted
  6 17 person.
       LSB 2092YH (2) 87
       pf/nh
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