H.B. 231

1

ACCESS TO ADOPTION RECORDS
2 1999 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: David L. Zolman
5 AN ACT RELATING TO ADOPTION; PROVIDING THAT 100 YEARS AFTER FINAL
6 ADOPTION DECREE ENTERED ADOPTION RECORDS BECOME PUBLIC; AND
7 PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
8 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
9 AMENDS:
10 78-30-15, as last amended by Chapter 65, Laws of Utah 1990
11 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
12 Section 1. Section 78-30-15 is amended to read:
13 78-30-15. Petition, report, and documents to be sealed -- Exceptions.
14 The court shall order that the petition for adoption, the written report described in Section
15 78-30-14 , and any other documents filed in connection with the hearing be sealed. Those items
16 are not open to inspection or copying except:
17 (1) upon order of the court expressly permitting inspection or copying, after good cause
18 has been shown[, or];
19 (2) as provided under Section 78-30-18 [.]; or
20 (3) those records shall become public on the one hundredth anniversary of the date the
21 final decree of adoption was entered.
22 Section 2. Effective date.
23 This act takes effect on July 1, 1999.

Legislative Review Note
as of 1-6-99 11:31 AM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel