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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to access to birth records of certain adopted children. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 192.008, Health and Safety Code, is |
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amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows: |
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(g) If an adult adoptee who does not know the identity of one |
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or both parents listed on the person's original birth certificate |
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applies for access to the person's original birth certificate, the |
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state registrar shall perform a search of reasonably available |
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death records to determine if each parent named on the original |
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birth certificate whose identity is unknown to the adoptee is |
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deceased. Upon confirmation that each parent named on the original |
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birth certificate whose identity is unknown to the adoptee is |
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deceased, the registrar shall provide to the person a noncertified |
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copy of the person's original birth certificate without a court |
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order. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to an |
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application for an original birth certificate filed on or after the |
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effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the suit for |
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adoption was filed before, on, or after the effective date of this |
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Act. An application for an original birth certificate filed before |
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the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on |
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the date the application was filed, and the former law is continued |
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in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |