2010 -- H 7877 SUBSTITUTE A

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LC01625/SUB A

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2010

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A N A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- VITAL RECORDS

     Introduced By: Representatives Shallcross Smith, A Rice, Carnevale, Diaz, and Hearn

     Date Introduced: March 09, 2010

     Referred To: House Judiciary

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Sections 23-3-1 and 23-3-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-3 entitled

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"Vital Records" are hereby amended to read as follows:

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     23-3-1. Definitions. -- As used in this chapter:

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     (1) “Adoptee” means a person who was born in this state and who has had an original

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birth certificate sealed due to an adoption.

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     (2) “Adoptee vital records file” means a file operated by the division of vital records that

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maintains adoptees’ birth certificates, makes available the no release form, provides adoptees

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with non-certified copies of their birth certificates unless a birth parent has filed a no release

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form.

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     (3) “Adult” means a person eighteen (18) years of age or older.

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     (4) “Birth parent” is the person, the father or mother of genetic origin of a child, who is

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legally presumed under the laws of the this state to be the father or mother of genetic origin of a

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child.

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      (1)(5) "Community of resident" means the city or town within the state of a person's

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home address at the time of his or her marriage or death, or of his or her mother's home address at

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the time of his or her birth.

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      (2)(6) "Dead body" means a lifeless human body or parts of a lifeless human body or its

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bones from the state of which it reasonably may be concluded that death recently occurred.

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     (7) “Division” means the division of vital records as defined in chapter 3 of title 23.

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      (3)(8) "Fetal death" means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its

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mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy; the death is

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indicated by the fact that after the expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any

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other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite

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movement of the voluntary muscles.

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      (4)(9) "Filing" means the presentation of a certificate, report, or other record provided

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for in this chapter, of a birth, death, fetal death, adoption, marriage, or divorce for registration by

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the division of vital records.

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      (5)(10) "Final disposition" means the burial, interment, cremation, or other disposition of

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a dead body or fetus.

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      (6)(11) "Institution" means any establishment, public or private, which provides in-

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patient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, or nursing, custodial or domiciliary care

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to two (2) or more unrelated individuals, or to which persons are committed by law.

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      (7)(12) "Live birth" means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a

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product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after that

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expulsion or extraction, breathes or shows any other evidences of life such as beating of the heart,

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pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of the voluntary muscles, whether or not

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the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached.

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      (8)(13) "Physician" means a person authorized or licensed to practice medicine pursuant

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to chapter 37 of title 5.

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     (14) “No release form” means the form prepared and maintained by the division that birth

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parents, or parents and siblings of deceased birth parents, may file indicating the birth parent’s

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desire not to have the adoptee’s birth certificate released to the adoptee or his or her authorized

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representative. The no release form shall include language informing the birth parent, or parents

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and siblings of deceased birth parents, of their ability to provide genetic, social, and health history

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to the Passive Voluntary Adoption Mutual Consent Registry as defined in chapter 15-7.2, should

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they choose to file a no release form.

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     (9)(15) "Registration" means the acceptance by the division of vital records and the

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incorporation in its official records of certificates, reports, or other records provided for in this

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chapter, or births, deaths, fetal deaths, adoptions, marriages, or divorces.

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      (10)(16) "Signing" or "Signature" means the application of either a hand signature to a

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paper record or an electronic process approved by the state registrar of vital records.

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      (11)(17) "System of vital records" means the registration, collection, preservation,

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amendment, and certification of vital statistics records, and activities related to them including the

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tabulation, analysis, and publication of statistical data derived from those records.

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      (12)(18) "Vital records" means records of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, and

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data related to those records.

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     23-3-15. New certificates of birth following adoption -- Legitimation and paternity

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determination. -- (a) The state registrar of vital records shall establish a new certificate of birth

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for a person born in this state when he or she receives the following:

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      (1) An adoption report as provided in section 23-3-14 or a certified copy of the decree of

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adoption together with the information necessary to identify the original certificate of birth and to

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establish a new certificate of birth; except that a new certificate of birth shall not be established if

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the court decreeing the adoption, the adoptive parents, or the adopted person requests that a new

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certificate shall not be established.

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      (2) A request that a new certificate be established and evidence required by regulation

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proving that the person has been legitimated, or that a court of competent jurisdiction has

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determined the paternity of the person; provided, however, that where a court of competent

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jurisdiction has determined the paternity of the person, the name of the person who has been

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adjudicated as being the father shall be inserted on the birth certificate.

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      (b) When a new certificate of birth is established, the actual place and date of birth shall

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be shown. It shall be substituted for the original certificate of birth.

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      (1) Thereafter, the original certificate and the evidence of adoption, paternity, or

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legitimation shall not be subject to inspection except as allowed by this chapter in the case of

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adoption by the adult adoptee, or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction or as provided

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by regulation.

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      (2) Upon receipt of a notice of annulment of adoption, the original certificate of birth

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shall be restored to its place in the files and the new certificate and evidence shall not be subject

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to inspection except upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

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      (3) Upon receipt from a passive voluntary adoption mutual consent registry of a

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certificate provided for in section 15-7.2-12(b), the adult adoptee named in the certificate, and

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only that person, shall be entitled to receive non-certified copies of his or her original birth

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certificate.

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      (c) If no certificate of birth is on file for the person for whom a new certificate is to be

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established under this section, a delayed certificate of birth shall be filed with the state registrar of

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vital records as provided in section 23-3-12 or 23-3-13, before a new certificate of birth is

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established, except that when the date and place of birth and parentage have been established in

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accordance with this chapter in the adoption proceedings, a delayed certificate shall not be

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required.

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      (d) When a new certificate of birth is established by the state registrar of vital records, all

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copies of the original certificate of birth in the custody of any custodian of permanent local

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records in this state shall be sealed from inspection or forwarded to the state registrar of vital

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records, as he or she shall direct.

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      (e) (1) The state registrar shall, upon request, prepare and register a certificate in this

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state for a person born in a foreign country who is not a citizen of the United States and who was

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adopted through a court of competent jurisdiction in this state. The certificate shall be established

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upon receipt of a report of adoption from the court decreeing the adoption, proof of the date and

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place of the child's birth, and a request from the court, the adopting parents, or the adopted person

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if eighteen (18) years of age or over that a certificate be prepared. The certificate shall be labeled

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"certificate of foreign birth" and shall show the actual country of birth. After registration of the

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birth certificate in the new name of the adopted person, the state registrar shall seal and file the

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report of adoption which shall not be subject to inspection except upon order of a court of

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competent jurisdiction or as provided by regulation.

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      (2) If the child was born in a foreign country but was a citizen of the United States at the

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time of birth, the state registrar shall not prepare a "certificate of foreign birth" and shall notify

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the adoptive parents of the procedures for obtaining a revised birth certificate for their child

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through the U.S. department of state.

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      (f) When a new certificate of birth is established following an adoption or legitimation in

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this state, and when no record of the original birth is on file at the city or town of occurrence, the

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state registrar of vital records shall cause a copy to be filed with the registrar of births in the city

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or town where the child was born and the city or town of residence of the parents indicated on the

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new certificate, if that residence is within the state.

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     (g)(1) The division shall establish, maintain and operate the adoptee vital records file.

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Upon written application by an adult adoptee, the division shall issue to such applicant a non-

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certified copy of the unaltered, original certificate of birth of the adoptee, with procedures, filing

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fees and waiting periods identical to those imposed upon non-adopted citizens of the state unless

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the division has a no release form on file, in which case no copy of the birth certificate shall be

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released.

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     (2) Any birth parent, or parent or adult sibling of a deceased birth parent, may file a no

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release form with the division of vital records, and the division of vital records will thereafter not

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release a copy of the adoptee’s birth certificate. The division shall post the no release form and

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filing instructions on the division’s web site. A birth parent, or parent or adult sibling of a

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deceased birth parent may revoke his or her no release form at any time.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage, except that subdivision 23-3-15

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(g)(1) which shall take effect one year from the date of passage.

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LC01625/SUB A

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- VITAL RECORDS

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     This act would allow adult adoptees to obtain copies of their birth certificate unless one

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birth parent files a form objecting to the release of such information. Birth parents would be

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informed of their right to provide social, genetic, and health histories through the Passive

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Voluntary Adoption Mutual Consent Registry, and those forms would be made available to birth

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parents and certain other people.

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     This act would take effect upon passage, except that subdivision 23-3-15 (g)(1) which

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would take effect one year from the date of passage.

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LC01625/SUB A

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