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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.
Regular Session, 2011
SENATE BILL NO. 155
BY SENATOR MARTINY
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
VITAL STATISTICS. Provides for access to original birth certificates. (8/15/11)
AN ACT1
To amend and reenact Children's Code Articles 1187 and 1188(C) and to enact R.S.2
40:73(E), relative to adoptions; to provide for accessing original birth certificates3
under certain circumstances; and to provide for related matters. 4
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:5
Section 1. Children's Code Articles 1187 and 1188(C) are hereby amended and6
reenacted to read as follows: 7
Art. 1187. Court records of proceedings8
Except as provided in R.S. 40:73(E), All all court records of adoption9
proceedings shall be confidential and shall not be open to inspection except on10
written authorization by the court and there shall be no publication thereof.11
Art. 1188. Motion for disclosure12
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C. Except as provided in R.S. 40:73(E), This this action and the limited14
medical exception provision of Article 1127 shall be the exclusive means for gaining15
access to records of adoptions whether maintained by this court, some other court,16
an adoption agency, any state agency, or private individual, notwithstanding17 SB NO. 155
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.
provisions of law to the contrary.1
Section 2. R.S. 40:73(E) is hereby enacted to read as follows:2
ยง73. Certified copy of the new record; sealing and confidentiality of the original3
birth record; issuance of original birth certificate4
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E.(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an adopted6
person who is twenty-four years of age or older may request an uncertified copy7
of such person's original birth certificate from the state registrar. When such8
request is made, the sealed package shall be opened and an uncertified copy of9
the original birth certificate shall be issued to the adopted person.10
(2) The uncertified copy of the original birth certificate shall be issued11
to the adopted person in accordance with the regulations duly promulgated in12
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act for a certified copy of a vital13
record in the custody of the vital records registry.14
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Michelle Ducharme.
DIGEST
Martiny (SB 155)
Present law requires the state registrar to issue to an adopted person or to the adoptive
parents a certified copy of the new birth record, place the original birth record and copy of
the judgement or copy of the act of adoption in a sealed package, and file the sealed package
in the archives of the vital records registry.
Present law provides that the sealed package shall only be opened upon the demand of the
adopted person, or if deceased, by his or her descendants, or upon the demand of the
adoptive parent, or the state registrar, or the recognized public or private social agency which
was a party to the adoption, and then only by order of a Louisiana court of competent
jurisdiction at the domicile of the vital records registry. The information provided shall be
revealed only to the extent necessary to satisfy such compelling necessity.
Present law provides that all court records of adoption proceedings shall be confidential and
shall not be open to inspection except on written authorization by the court and there shall
be no publication thereof.
Present law further provides that a motion for disclosure and the limited medical exception
shall be the exclusive means for gaining access to records of adoptions whether maintained
by this court, some other court, an adoption agency, any state agency, or private individual,
notwithstanding provisions of law to the contrary.
Proposed law provides that notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an adopted
person who is twenty-four years of age or older may request an uncertified copy of such SB NO. 155
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.
person's original birth certificate from the state registrar. When such request is made, the
sealed package shall be opened and an uncertified copy of the original birth certificate shall
be issued to the adopted person.
Proposed law provides that the uncertified copy of the original birth certificate shall be
issued to the adopted person in accordance with the regulations duly promulgated in
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act for a certified copy of a vital record in
the custody of the vital records registry.
Effective August 15, 2011.
(Amends Ch.C.Art. 1187 and 1188(C); adds R.S. 40:73(E))