Houses Bill # 233
AN ACT relating to adoption.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section 1. KRS 199.570 is amended to read as follows:
(1) The files and records of the court during adoption proceedings shall not be open to inspection by persons other than parties to the proceedings, their attorneys, and representatives of the cabinet except under order of the court expressly permitting inspection. Upon the entry of the final order in the case, the clerk shall place all papers and records in the case in a suitable envelope which shall be sealed and shall not be open for inspection by any person except on written order of the court, except that upon the written consent of the biological parents and upon written order of the Circuit Court all papers and records including all files and records of the Circuit Court during proceedings for termination of parental rights provided in KRS 625.108 shall be open for inspection to any adult adopted person who applies in person or in writing to the Circuit Court as provided in KRS 199.572. No person having charge of any adoption records shall disclose the names of any parties appearing in such records or furnish any copy of any such records, except upon order of the court which entered the judgment of adoption. Health information received pursuant to KRS 199.525 shall be added to the adoption case file. The clerk of the Circuit Court shall set up a separate docket and order book for adoption cases and these files and records shall be kept locked.
(2) After entry of the adoption judgment, the clerk of the Circuit Court shall promptly report to the Cabinet for Health Services of Kentucky full information as called for on forms furnished by the Cabinet for Health Services, necessary to make a new birth certificate conforming to the standard birth certificate form. Upon receipt of this information, the Cabinet for Health Services shall cause to be made a new record of the birth and it shall be filed with the original certificate, and the original certificate shall be stamped with the words, "CONFIDENTIAL -- subject to copy and/or inspection only on written order of the court."
(3) The new certificate shall set forth the new name, if any, of the adopted child, the names of the adoptive parents, and such other information deemed necessary in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the Cabinet for Health Services in issuing of birth certificates. If the adopted child is under eighteen (18) years of age, the birth certificate shall not contain any information revealing the child is adopted and shall show the adoptive parent or parents as the biological parent or parents of the child. If requested by the adoptive parents, the new birth certificate when issued shall contain the location of birth, hospital, and name of doctor or midwife. This information should be given only by an order of the court in which the child was adopted. The new birth certificate shall recite the residence of the adoptive parents as the birthplace of the child and this shall be deemed for all legal purposes to be the birthplace of the child. If no birth certificate is on file for a child born in Kentucky, the Cabinet for Health Services shall prepare a certificate of birth in accordance with the information furnished the cabinet by the clerk of the Circuit Court which issued the adoption order. The Cabinet for Health Services shall furnish to the clerks of the Circuit Courts the necessary forms to carry out the provisions of this section. If the child was born in another state, the order of adoption shall be forwarded to the division of vital statistics of the state concerned to be changed in accordance with the laws of such state. If the child was born in a foreign country, the report of adoption shall be returned to the attorney or agency handling the adoption for submission to the appropriate federal agency.
(4) Thereafter when any copy of the certificate of birth of any child is issued it shall be a copy of the new certificate of birth, except as provided in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection.
(a) The state registrar of vital statistics shall issue to an adopted person born in the Commonwealth of Kentucky a copy of that person's original certificate of birth when that person:
1. Submits an application for a copy of the original certificate of birth to the state registrar under KRS 213.136; and
2. At the time of the application is twenty-one (21) years of age or older.
(b) The state registrar of vital statistics shall issue a copy of the original certificate of birth when an order of the court granting the judgment of adoption requests
[shall request the]issuance of a[the]copy of the original certificate of the child's birth.(5) If any judgment of adoption is reversed, modified, or vacated in any particular, the clerk of the Circuit Court shall notify the Cabinet for Health Services of the reversal or modification and the effect of same, and the cabinet shall make any necessary changes in its records.
Section 2. KRS 213.071 is amended to read as follows:
(1) The state registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for a person born in the Commonwealth when the state registrar receives the following:
(a) A report of adoption as provided in KRS 213.066 or a report of adoption prepared and filed in accordance with the laws of another state or foreign country or a certified copy of the decree of adoption, together with the information necessary to identify the original certificate of birth and to establish a new certificate of birth; or
(b) A request that a new certificate be established as prescribed by administrative regulation and the evidence as required by administrative regulation proving that the person has been legitimated, or that a court of competent jurisdiction has determined the paternity of the person, or that both parents have acknowledged the paternity of the person in which case the surname of the child shall be changed in accordance with KRS 213.046.
(2) If paternity is determined in a court action, the clerk shall report the findings of the court to the state registrar on forms prescribed and furnished for that purpose. The reports shall be made no later than the fifteenth of the month following the date of the order.
(3) If a new certificate is established, the actual place and date of birth shall be shown except in the case of adoption. If the adopted child is under eighteen (18) years of age, the birth certificate shall not contain any information revealing the child is adopted and shall show the adoptive parent or parents as the natural parent or parents of the child. The new birth certificate, when issued, shall not contain the place of birth, hospital, or name of the doctor or midwife. This information shall be given only by an order of the court in which the child was adopted. If the child was born in the Commonwealth, the new birth certificate shall show the residence of the adoptive parents as the birthplace of the child, and this shall be deemed for all legal purposes to be the birthplace of the child.
(4) The new certificate shall be substituted for the original certificate of birth in the files, and the original certificate of birth and the evidence of adoption, paternity determination, or paternity acknowledgment shall not be subject to inspection except under subsection (4)(a) of Section 1 of this Act or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(5) If any judgment under this section is reversed, amended, modified, or vacated in any particular, the clerk of the court shall notify the state registrar of the reversal or modification, and the state registrar shall make the changes, if any, in the records as may be necessary by the reversal or modification, or if the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity pursuant to KRS 213.046(4) is rescinded, the state registrar shall make the changes, if any, in the records as may be necessary by the reversal, modification, or rescission of the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity.
(6) If a new certificate of birth is established by the state registrar, all copies of the original certificate of birth on file in the local health department shall be sealed and forwarded to the state registrar as the state registrar shall direct.
(7) If no birth certificate is on file for an adopted child born in Kentucky, the state registrar shall prepare a certificate of birth in accordance with information furnished by the clerk of the Circuit Court which issued the adoption order. The state registrar shall furnish the clerks of the Circuit Courts the necessary forms to carry out the provisions of this section.
AN ACT relating to adoption.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section 1. KRS 199.520 is amended to read as follows:
(1) After hearing the case, the court shall enter a judgment of adoption, if it finds that the facts stated in the petition were established; that all legal requirements, including jurisdiction, relating to the adoption have been complied with; that the petitioners are of good moral character, of reputable standing in the community and of ability to properly maintain and educate the child; and that the best interest of the child will be promoted by the adoption and that the child is suitable for adoption. In the judgment, the name of the child shall be changed to conform with the prayer of the petition. The judgment and all orders required to be entered and recorded in the order book, including the caption, shall contain only the names of the petitioners and the proposed adopted name of the child, without any reference to its former name or the names of its birth parents.
(2) Upon entry of the judgment of adoption, from and after the date of the filing of the petition, the child shall be deemed the child of petitioners and shall be considered for purposes of inheritance and succession and for all other legal considerations, the natural child of the parents adopting it the same as if born of their bodies. Upon granting an adoption, all legal relationship between the adopted child and the biological parents shall be terminated except the relationship of a biological parent who is the spouse of an adoptive parent.
(3) The clerk of the court shall notify the cabinet of any action of the court with respect to entering a judgment granting an adoption, the amendment of an adoption, or the denial or dismissal of a petition for adoption.
(4) (a) The health history and other nonidentifying background information of biological parents and blood relatives of the adopted person, in writing, on a standardized form, provided by the cabinet, if known, shall be given by the cabinet or child-placing agency which has the information to the adoptive parents and to the Circuit Court not later than the date of finalization of the adoption proceedings. This information shall include the results of any tests for HIV or hepatitis A, B, and C; and
(b) The information provided for in paragraph (a) of this subsection, if known, shall, upon the request in person or in writing of the adult adopted person be made available in writing to that person. The information shall not be made available if it is of a nature that would tend to identify the biological parents of the adopted person except as provided in KRS 199.570 and 199.572.