Court administrator requirement to provide adoption records to adoptive parents and adult adoptees

A bill for an act

relating to records; requiring the court administrator to provide adoption records

to adoptive parents and adult adoptees; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections

144.218, subdivision 2; 144.2252, subdivision 2; 259.21, by adding a subdivision;

259.60, subdivision 2; 259.61.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.218, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Adoption of foreign persons.

In proceedings for the adoption of a person who

was born in a foreign country, the court, upon evidence presented by the commissioner of

children, youth, and families from information secured at the port of entry or upon evidence

from other reliable sources, may make findings of fact as to the date and place of birth and

parentage. Upon receipt of certified copies of the court findings and the order or decree of

adoption, a certificate of adoption, or a certified copy of a decree issued under section

259.60
, the state registrar shall register a birth record in the new name of the adopted person.

The certified copies of the court findings and the order or decree of adoption, certificate of

adoption, or decree issued under section
259.60
are private data, pursuant to section
13.02,

subdivision 12
, and shall not be disclosed except pursuant to court order or section
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144.2252
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259.60, subdivision 2, paragraph (d)
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. The birth record shall state the place of birth as

specifically as possible and that the vital record is not evidence of United States citizenship.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.2252, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Release of original birth record.

(a) The state registrar must provide to an

adopted person who is 18 years of age or older or a person related to the adopted person a

copy of the adopted person's original birth record and any evidence of the adoption previously

filed with the state registrar. To receive a copy of an original birth record under this

subdivision, the adopted person or person related to the adopted person must make the

request to the state registrar in writing. The copy of the original birth record must clearly

indicate that it may not be used for identification purposes. All procedures, fees, and waiting

periods applicable to a nonadopted person's request for a copy of a birth record apply in the

same manner as requests made under this section.

(b) If a contact preference form is attached to the original birth record as authorized

under section
144.2253
, the state registrar must provide a copy of the contact preference

form along with the copy of the adopted person's original birth record.

(c) The state registrar shall provide a transcript of an adopted person's original birth

record to an authorized representative of a federally recognized American Indian Tribe for

the sole purpose of determining the adopted person's eligibility for enrollment or membership.

Information contained in the birth record may not be used to provide the adopted person

information about the person's birth parents, except as provided in this section or section

259.83
.

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(d) For a replacement birth record issued under section
144.218
, the adopted person or

a person related to the adopted person may obtain from the state registrar copies of the order

or decree of adoption, certificate of adoption, or decree issued under section
259.60
, as filed

with the state registrar.

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(e)
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(d)
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The state registrar may request assistance from the commissioner of children,

youth, and families if needed to discharge duties under this section, as authorized under

section
259.79
.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.21, is amended by adding a subdivision to

read:

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Subd. 2b.

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Adult adopted person.

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"Adult adopted person" means a person 18 years of

age or older who was adopted as a child pursuant to a decree of adoption described in section

259.57, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), or 259.60, subdivision 2, paragraph (a).

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Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.60, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Amended birth record; procedure and order; decree recognizing

adoption.

(a) Under the procedures in paragraph (b), a person, whose adoption of a child

under the laws of a foreign country is valid in this state under subdivision 1, may petition

the district court in the county where the adoptive parent resides for a decree confirming

and recognizing the adoption, changing the child's legal name, if requested in the petition,

and authorizing the commissioner of health to issue a new birth record for the child under

section
144.218, subdivision 2
.

(b) A court shall issue the decree described in paragraph (a) upon receipt of the following

documents:

(1) a petition by the adoptive parent stating that the adoptive parent completed adoption

of the child under the laws of a foreign country and that the adoption is valid in this state

under subdivision 1 and requesting that the court issue a decree confirming and recognizing

the adoption, changing the child's legal name, if desired, and authorizing the commissioner

of health to issue a new birth record for the child under section
144.218, subdivision 2
. The

petition must be in the form of a signed, sworn, and notarized statement;

(2) a copy of the child's original birth record, if available;

(3) a copy of the final adoption certificate or equivalent as issued by the foreign

jurisdiction;

(4) a copy of the child's passport including the United States visa indicating IR-3

immigration status; and

(5) certified English translations of any of the documents in clauses (2) to (4) that are

not written in the English language.

(c) Upon issuing a decree under this section, the court shall forward to the commissioners

of health and human services a copy of the decree. The court shall also complete and forward

to the commissioner of health the certificate of adoption, unless another form has been

specified by the commissioner of health.

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(d) The court administrator shall provide a certified copy of the decree described in

paragraph (a), along with certified copies of the documents described in paragraph (b), to

an adoptive parent or to the adult adopted person named in the decree upon presentation of

proper identification.

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Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.61, is amended to read:

259.61 HEARINGS, CONFIDENTIAL.

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(a)
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All hearings held in proceedings under sections
259.21
to
259.63
shall be confidential

and shall be held in closed court without admittance of any persons other than the petitioners,

their witnesses, the commissioner of children, youth, and families or an agency, or their

authorized representatives, attorneys, and persons entitled to notice by sections
259.21
to

259.63
, except by order of the court. The files and records of the court in adoption

proceedings shall not be open to inspection by any person except the commissioner of

children, youth, and families or the commissioner's representatives, an agency acting under

section
259.47, subdivision 10
, or upon an order of the court expressly so permitting pursuant

to a petition setting forth the reasons therefor. In a stepparent adoption, upon receiving a

written request from a parent whose parental rights would be or have been severed by the

adoption under section
259.59
, the court or the commissioner may confirm in writing whether

or not an adoption decree has been granted and, if so, the date of the adoption decree.

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(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the court administrator shall provide a certified copy

of the decree described in section 259.57, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), to an adoptive parent

or to the adult adopted person named in the decree upon presentation of proper identification.

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