S.B. 282

1

ADOPTION NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
2 2013 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Luz Robles
5 House Sponsor: ____________
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill modifies Title 26, Chapter 2, Utah Vital Statistics Act, and Title 78B, Chapter
10 6, Particular Proceedings.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This bill:
13 . requires the state registrar of the Office of Vital Records and Statistics to report to
14 the 2013 Health and Human Services Interim Committee about the possibility of
15 creating a national putative father registry;
16 . modifies the definition of a "qualifying circumstance"; and
17 . makes technical changes.
18 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
19 None
20 Other Special Clauses:
21 None
22 Utah Code Sections Affected:
23 AMENDS:
24 26-2-3, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2000, Chapter 86
25 78B-6-122, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2010, Chapter 237
26
27 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:

28 Section 1. Section 26-2-3 is amended to read:
29 26-2-3. Department duties and authority.
30 (1) The department shall:
31 (a) provide offices properly equipped for the preservation of vital records made or
32 received under this chapter;
33 (b) establish a statewide vital records system for the registration, collection,
34 preservation, amendment, and certification of vital records and other similar documents
35 required by this chapter and activities related to them, including the tabulation, analysis, and
36 publication of vital statistics;
37 (c) prescribe forms for certificates, certification, reports, and other documents and
38 records necessary to establish and maintain a statewide system of vital records;
39 (d) prepare an annual compilation, analysis, and publication of statistics derived from
40 vital records; and
41 (e) appoint a state registrar to direct the statewide system of vital records.
42 (2) The department may:
43 (a) divide the state from time to time into registration districts; and
44 (b) appoint local registrars for registration districts who under the direction and
45 supervision of the state registrar shall perform all duties required of them by this chapter and
46 department rules.
47 (3) The state registrar appointed under Subsection (1)(e) shall, during the 2013 interim,
48 report to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee on the feasibility of partnering
49 with the public legal notice website described in Subsection 45-1-101 (2)(b) to create a national
50 putative father registry.
51 Section 2. Section 78B-6-122 is amended to read:
52 78B-6-122. Qualifying circumstance.
53 (1) (a) For purposes of this section, "qualifying circumstance" means that, at any point
54 during the time period beginning at the conception of the child and ending at the time the
55 mother executed a consent to adoption or relinquishment of the child for adoption:
56 (i) the child or the child's mother resided[,] on a permanent basis, or a temporary basis
57 of no less than 30 consecutive days, in the state;
58 (ii) the mother intended to give birth to the child in the state;

59 (iii) the child was born in the state; or
60 (iv) the mother intended to execute a consent to adoption or relinquishment of the child
61 for adoption:
62 (A) in the state; or
63 (B) under the laws of the state.
64 (b) For purposes of Subsection (1)(c)(i)(C) only, when determining whether an
65 unmarried biological father has demonstrated a full commitment to his parental
66 responsibilities, a court shall consider the totality of the circumstances, including, if applicable:
67 (i) efforts he has taken to discover the location of the child or the child's mother;
68 (ii) whether he has expressed or demonstrated an interest in taking responsibility for
69 the child;
70 (iii) whether, and to what extent, he has developed, or attempted to develop, a
71 relationship with the child;
72 (iv) whether he offered to provide and, if the offer was accepted, did provide, financial
73 support for the child or the child's mother;
74 (v) whether, and to what extent, he has communicated, or attempted to communicate,
75 with the child or the child's mother;
76 (vi) whether he has filed legal proceedings to establish his paternity of, and take
77 responsibility for, the child;
78 (vii) whether he has filed a notice with a public official or agency relating to:
79 (A) his paternity of the child; or
80 (B) legal proceedings to establish his paternity of the child; or
81 (viii) other evidence that demonstrates that he has demonstrated a full commitment to
82 his parental responsibilities.
83 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 78B-6-121 , the consent of an unmarried
84 biological father is required with respect to an adoptee who is under the age of 18 if:
85 (i) (A) the unmarried biological father did not know, and through the exercise of
86 reasonable diligence could not have known, before the time the mother executed a consent to
87 adoption or relinquishment of the child for adoption, that a qualifying circumstance existed;
88 (B) before the mother executed a consent to adoption or relinquishment of the child for
89 adoption, the unmarried biological father fully complied with the requirements to establish

90 parental rights in the child, and to preserve the right to notice of a proceeding in connection
91 with the adoption of the child, imposed by:
92 (I) the last state where the unmarried biological father knew, or through the exercise of
93 reasonable diligence should have known, that the mother resided in before the mother executed
94 the consent to adoption or relinquishment of the child for adoption; or
95 (II) the state where the child was conceived; and
96 (C) the unmarried biological father has demonstrated, based on the totality of the
97 circumstances, a full commitment to his parental responsibilities, as described in Subsection
98 (1)(b); or
99 (ii) (A) the unmarried biological father knew, or through the exercise of reasonable
100 diligence should have known, before the time the mother executed a consent to adoption or
101 relinquishment of the child for adoption, that a qualifying circumstance existed; and
102 (B) the unmarried biological father complied with the requirements of Section
103 78B-6-121 before the later of:
104 (I) 20 days after the day that the unmarried biological father knew, or through the
105 exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, that a qualifying circumstance existed; or
106 (II) the time that the mother executed a consent to adoption or relinquishment of the
107 child for adoption.
108 (2) An unmarried biological father who does not fully and strictly comply with the
109 requirements of Section 78B-6-121 and this section is considered to have waived and
110 surrendered any right in relation to the child, including the right to:
111 (a) notice of any judicial proceeding in connection with the adoption of the child; and
112 (b) consent, or refuse to consent, to the adoption of the child.




Legislative Review Note
as of 3-4-13 1:52 PM

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

[Bill Documents]