1     
COMPACT FOR INTERSTATE SHARING OF PUTATIVE

2     
FATHER REGISTRY INFORMATION

3     
2015 GENERAL SESSION

4     
STATE OF UTAH

5     
Chief Sponsor: Luz Escamilla

6     
House Sponsor: Jacob L. Anderegg

7     

8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10          This bill enacts the Compact for Interstate Sharing of Putative Father Registry
11     Information.
12     Highlighted Provisions:
13          This bill:
14          ▸     defines terms;
15          ▸     describes the purpose of the Compact for Interstate Sharing of Putative Father
16     Registry Information;
17          ▸     describes the process for entering, withdrawing from, and amending the compact;
18          ▸     describes the responsibilities and privileges of states participating in the compact;
19          ▸     addresses the privacy, retention, and use of putative father registry information
20     shared under the compact;
21          ▸     includes a severability clause; and
22          ▸     requires the state registrar, appointed by the Department of Health, to study the
23     procedures necessary to implement the Compact for Interstate Sharing of Putative
24     Father Registry Information.
25     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
26          None
27     Other Special Clauses:
28          This bill provides a special effective date.
29     Utah Code Sections Affected:

30     AMENDS:
31          26-2-3, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 474
32     ENACTS:
33          78B-6-121.5, Utah Code Annotated 1953
34     

35     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
36          Section 1. Section 26-2-3 is amended to read:
37          26-2-3. Department duties and authority.
38          (1) As used in this section:
39          (a) "Compact" means the Compact for Interstate Sharing of Putative Father Registry
40     Information created in Section 78B-6-121.5, effective on May 10, 2016.
41          (b) "Putative father":
42          (i) means the same as that term is as defined in Section 78B-6-121.5; and
43          (ii) includes an unmarried biological father.
44          (c) "State registrar" means the state registrar of vital records appointed under
45     Subsection (2)(e).
46          (d) "Unmarried biological father" means the same as that term is defined in Section
47     78B-6-103.
48          [(1)] (2) The department shall:
49          (a) provide offices properly equipped for the preservation of vital records made or
50     received under this chapter;
51          (b) establish a statewide vital records system for the registration, collection,
52     preservation, amendment, and certification of vital records and other similar documents
53     required by this chapter and activities related to them, including the tabulation, analysis, and
54     publication of vital statistics;
55          (c) prescribe forms for certificates, certification, reports, and other documents and
56     records necessary to establish and maintain a statewide system of vital records;
57          (d) prepare an annual compilation, analysis, and publication of statistics derived from

58     vital records; and
59          (e) appoint a state registrar to direct the statewide system of vital records.
60          [(2)] (3) The department may:
61          (a) divide the state from time to time into registration districts; and
62          (b) appoint local registrars for registration districts who under the direction and
63     supervision of the state registrar shall perform all duties required of them by this chapter and
64     department rules.
65          [(3)] (4) The state registrar appointed under Subsection [(1)(e)] (2)(e) shall[, during the
66     2013 interim, report to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee on the feasibility of
67     partnering with the public legal notice website described in Subsection 45-1-101(2)(b) to create
68     a national putative father registry.]:
69          (a) with the input of Utah stakeholders and the Uniform Law Commission, study the
70     following items for the state's implementation of the compact:
71          (i) the feasibility of using systems developed by the National Association for Public
72     Health Statistics and Information Systems, including the State and Territorial Exchange of
73     Vital Events (STEVE) system and the Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) system,
74     or similar systems, to exchange putative father registry information with states that are parties
75     to the compact;
76          (ii) procedures necessary to share putative father information, located in the
77     confidential registry maintained by the state registrar, upon request from the state registrar of
78     another state that is a party to the compact;
79          (iii) procedures necessary for the state registrar to access putative father information
80     located in a state that is a party to the compact, and share that information with persons who
81     request a certificate from the state registrar;
82          (iv) procedures necessary to ensure that the name of the mother of the child who is the
83     subject of a putative father's notice of commencement, filed pursuant to Section 78B-6-121, is
84     kept confidential when a state that is a party to the compact accesses this state's confidential
85     registry through the state registrar; and

86          (v) procedures necessary to ensure that a putative father's registration with a state that
87     is a party to the compact is given the same effect as a putative father's notice of commencement
88     filed pursuant to Section 78B-6-121; and
89          (b) report to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee before November 1,
90     2015, on the study items described in Subsection (4)(a).
91          Section 2. Section 78B-6-121.5 is enacted to read:
92          78B-6-121.5. Compact for Interstate Sharing of Putative Father Registry
93     Information -- Severability clause.
94     
COMPACT FOR INTERSTATE SHARING

95     
OF PUTATIVE FATHER REGISTRY INFORMATION

96     
ARTICLE I

97     
PURPOSE

98          This compact enables the sharing of putative father registry information collected by a
99     state that is a party to the compact with all other states that are parties to the compact.
100     
ARTICLE II

101     
DEFINITIONS

102          (1) "Putative father" means a man who may be the biological father of a child because
103     the man had a sexual relationship with a woman to whom he is not married.
104          (2) "Putative father registry" mean a registry of putative fathers maintained and used by
105     a state as part of its legal process for protecting a putative father's rights.
106          (3) "State" includes a state, district, or territory of the United States.
107     
ARTICLE III

108     
ENTRY, WITHDRAWAL, AND AMENDMENTS

109          (1) A state is a party to this compact upon enactment of this compact by the state into
110     state law.
111          (2) Upon providing at least 60 days' notice of withdrawal from this compact to each
112     party to the compact and repealing the compact from state law, a state is no longer party to this
113     compact.

114          (3) This compact is amended upon enactment of the amendment into state law by each
115     party to the compact.
116     
ARTICLE IV

117     
INTERSTATE SHARING OF PUTATIVE FATHER REGISTRY INFORMATION

118          (1) A party to this compact shall communicate information in its putative father
119     registry about a specific putative father to any other party to this compact in a timely manner
120     upon request by the other party.
121          (2) A party to this compact is not required to have a putative father registry in order to
122     request putative father registry information from another party to the compact.
123          (3) Putative father registry information requested by a party to this compact from
124     another party to this compact is subject to the laws of the requesting party governing the
125     privacy, retention, and authorized uses of putative father information or, if the requesting party
126     does not have a putative father registry, the laws of the party supplying the information
127     governing the privacy, retention, and authorized uses of putative father information.
128          (4) Notwithstanding Article IV, Subsection (3) of this compact, the request for or
129     receipt of putative father registry information by a party to this compact from another party to
130     this compact does not affect the application of the requesting party's laws, including laws
131     regarding adoption or the protection of a putative father's rights, except as explicitly provided
132     by the requesting party's laws.
133          (5) Failure by a party to this compact to provide accurate putative father registry
134     information in a timely manner to another party to this compact upon request does not affect
135     application of the requesting party's laws, including laws governing adoption and the protection
136     of a putative father's rights, except as explicitly provided by the requesting party's laws.
137          (6) Each party to this compact shall work with every other party to this compact to
138     facilitate the timely communication of putative father registry information between compact
139     parties upon request.
140     
ARTICLE V

141     
SEVERABILITY


142          The provisions of this compact are severable. If any provision of this compact or the
143     application of any provision of this compact to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a
144     final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction for a state that is a member of this compact,
145     the remainder of this compact shall be given effect within that state without the invalid
146     provision or application. If a provision of this compact is severed in one or more states as a
147     result of one or more court decisions, the provision shall remain in force in all other states that
148     are parties to this compact.
149          Section 3. Effective date.
150          (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), this bill takes effect on May 12, 2015.
151          (2) The actions affecting Section 78B-6-121.5 take effect on May 10, 2016.