Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1091 amends sections of the Family Code relating to the parent-child relationship, including suits affecting that relationship, the establishment of paternity, the termination of the parent-child relationship, and adoption.

            The act requires the Bureau of Vital Statistics to establish and administer a paternity registry. A person may register by filing a notice of intent to claim paternity on a form provided by the bureau and made available from hospitals, adoption agencies, county and district clerks, justices of the peace, and at other locations. The notice of intent may be filed before the birth of the child, but may not be filed after 30 days after the birth. The act sets out other provisions relating to the registry including confidentiality provisions, revocation of registry information, and fees.

            House Bill 1091 facilitates termination of parental rights by providing that termination is permitted if the pregnancy is the result of certain criminal offenses and that the rights of an alleged biological father may be terminated if he has not registered with the paternity registry and cannot be identified or located. The act limits a grandparent's right to access to a child given up for adoption. The act also amends sections relating to affidavits of voluntary relinquishment of parental rights, including a provision that an affidavit of relinquishment designating the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or a licensed child placing agency is irrevocable. It provides that if the relinquishment is revocable it must contain a statement concerning the right of the parent to revoke the relinquishment if the revocation is made before the 11th day after the affidavit is executed.

            The act requires the court to order an adoptive home screening to evaluate each party who requests the adoption. It allows a stepparent to petition to adopt a child under certain conditions. It requires the court to grant a preferential setting for a final hearing on an adoption and to give precedence to that hearing over all other civil cases. It transfers the responsibility for the voluntary adoption registry from the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to the Bureau of Vital Statistics.

            The act adds a new section providing for confidential intermediaries to be appointed by the court to assist persons in locating an adoptee, adoptive parent, biological parent, or biological sibling and sets out powers, duties, and qualifications for confidential intermediaries.

            The act creates a new offense for a person who advertises in the public media that the person will place a child for adoption or will provide or obtain a child for adoption and provides an exemption for a licensed child-placing agency. The first offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor and any subsequent offense is a felony of the third degree.