HBA-KMH H.B. 13 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 13
By: Goolsby
Juvenile  Justice & Family Issues
12/28/1998
Introduced

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Until the codification of the Texas Family Code in 1973, state law allowed
an adopted person to access court records regarding their adoption.  Now,
access may only be authorized by a finding of "good cause" by a court of
competent jurisdiction.  "Good cause" is not defined for these purposes and
is subject to interpretation by each court.  H.B. 13 authorizes the state
registrar to provide, under certain conditions, a noncertified copy of an
adopted person's birth certificate to the adopted person, as well as other
information if ordered by the court. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Sec. 192.008, Health and Safety Code, as follows:

(a)Adds a restriction that the only information that may be changed on a
supplementary birth certificate is the name of the mother, father, or
child.  Removes language which stated that this subsection does not
prohibit a single individual, male or female, from adopting a child and
redesignates it to the newly created Subsection (h). 

(b)Prohibits the state registrar from issuing a supplementary birth
certificate if a court, an adoptive parent, or an adoptee 12 years of age
or older requests that it not be issued, but requires the state registrar
to furnish a certified copy of the report of adoption in such instances. 

(c) -(f) Redesignated from existing Subsections (b)-(e).

(e)Expands the definition of the court of competent jurisdiction under this
subsection by striking the language which had limited it to the court that
granted the adoption. Deletes an original birth certificate from the list
of things to which a court may order access.  New Subsection (g) offers an
exception to this subsection.  Makes a conforming change. 

(f)Authorizes the release of additional information, under this subsection,
about adoption and termination suits, including the identity and location
of the court, the docket number, and the date the adoption or termination
order was signed. 

(g)Requires the state registrar to provide to a person who was adopted a
noncertified copy of the person's original birth certificate if the person
is 21 years of age or older; a supplementary birth certificate was issued
for the person; and, the person furnishes proof of the person's identity. 

 SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.  Provides that the change
in law made by this Act regarding access to birth certificate information
applies without regard to the date an adoption order is rendered. 

 SECTION 3.  Emergency Clause.