SF 4382

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 03/12/2026 10:06 a.m.

A bill for an act
relating to records; requiring the court administrator to provide adoption records
to adoptive parents and adult adoptees; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections
144.218, subdivision 2; 144.2252, subdivision 2; 259.21, by adding a subdivision;
259.60, subdivision 2; 259.61.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.218, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Adoption of foreign persons.

In proceedings for the adoption of a person who
was born in a foreign country, the court, upon evidence presented by the commissioner of
children, youth, and families from information secured at the port of entry or upon evidence
from other reliable sources, may make findings of fact as to the date and place of birth and
parentage. Upon receipt of certified copies of the court findings and the order or decree of
adoption, a certificate of adoption, or a certified copy of a decree issued under section
259.60, the state registrar shall register a birth record in the new name of the adopted person.
The certified copies of the court findings and the order or decree of adoption, certificate of
adoption, or decree issued under section 259.60 are private data, pursuant to section 13.02,
subdivision 12, and shall not be disclosed except pursuant to court order or section deleted text begin 144.2252 deleted text end new text begin
259.60, subdivision 2, paragraph (d) new text end . The birth record shall state the place of birth as
specifically as possible and that the vital record is not evidence of United States citizenship.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.2252, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Release of original birth record.

(a) The state registrar must provide to an
adopted person who is 18 years of age or older or a person related to the adopted person a
copy of the adopted person's original birth record and any evidence of the adoption previously
filed with the state registrar. To receive a copy of an original birth record under this
subdivision, the adopted person or person related to the adopted person must make the
request to the state registrar in writing. The copy of the original birth record must clearly
indicate that it may not be used for identification purposes. All procedures, fees, and waiting
periods applicable to a nonadopted person's request for a copy of a birth record apply in the
same manner as requests made under this section.

(b) If a contact preference form is attached to the original birth record as authorized
under section 144.2253, the state registrar must provide a copy of the contact preference
form along with the copy of the adopted person's original birth record.

(c) The state registrar shall provide a transcript of an adopted person's original birth
record to an authorized representative of a federally recognized American Indian Tribe for
the sole purpose of determining the adopted person's eligibility for enrollment or membership.
Information contained in the birth record may not be used to provide the adopted person
information about the person's birth parents, except as provided in this section or section
259.83.

deleted text begin (d) For a replacement birth record issued under section 144.218, the adopted person or
a person related to the adopted person may obtain from the state registrar copies of the order
or decree of adoption, certificate of adoption, or decree issued under section 259.60, as filed
with the state registrar.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (e) deleted text end new text begin (d) new text end The state registrar may request assistance from the commissioner of children,
youth, and families if needed to discharge duties under this section, as authorized under
section 259.79.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.21, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 2b. new text end

new text begin Adult adopted person. new text end

new text begin "Adult adopted person" means a person 18 years of
age or older who was adopted as a child pursuant to a decree of adoption described in section
259.57, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), or 259.60, subdivision 2, paragraph (a).
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.60, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Amended birth record; procedure and order; decree recognizing
adoption.

(a) Under the procedures in paragraph (b), a person, whose adoption of a child
under the laws of a foreign country is valid in this state under subdivision 1, may petition
the district court in the county where the adoptive parent resides for a decree confirming
and recognizing the adoption, changing the child's legal name, if requested in the petition,
and authorizing the commissioner of health to issue a new birth record for the child under
section 144.218, subdivision 2.

(b) A court shall issue the decree described in paragraph (a) upon receipt of the following
documents:

(1) a petition by the adoptive parent stating that the adoptive parent completed adoption
of the child under the laws of a foreign country and that the adoption is valid in this state
under subdivision 1 and requesting that the court issue a decree confirming and recognizing
the adoption, changing the child's legal name, if desired, and authorizing the commissioner
of health to issue a new birth record for the child under section 144.218, subdivision 2. The
petition must be in the form of a signed, sworn, and notarized statement;

(2) a copy of the child's original birth record, if available;

(3) a copy of the final adoption certificate or equivalent as issued by the foreign
jurisdiction;

(4) a copy of the child's passport including the United States visa indicating IR-3
immigration status; and

(5) certified English translations of any of the documents in clauses (2) to (4) that are
not written in the English language.

(c) Upon issuing a decree under this section, the court shall forward to the commissioners
of health and human services a copy of the decree. The court shall also complete and forward
to the commissioner of health the certificate of adoption, unless another form has been
specified by the commissioner of health.

new text begin (d) The court administrator shall provide a certified copy of the decree described in
paragraph (a), along with certified copies of the documents described in paragraph (b), to
an adoptive parent or to the adult adopted person named in the decree upon presentation of
proper identification.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.61, is amended to read:

259.61 HEARINGS, CONFIDENTIAL.

new text begin (a) new text end All hearings held in proceedings under sections 259.21 to 259.63 shall be confidential
and shall be held in closed court without admittance of any persons other than the petitioners,
their witnesses, the commissioner of children, youth, and families or an agency, or their
authorized representatives, attorneys, and persons entitled to notice by sections 259.21 to
259.63, except by order of the court. The files and records of the court in adoption
proceedings shall not be open to inspection by any person except the commissioner of
children, youth, and families or the commissioner's representatives, an agency acting under
section 259.47, subdivision 10, or upon an order of the court expressly so permitting pursuant
to a petition setting forth the reasons therefor. In a stepparent adoption, upon receiving a
written request from a parent whose parental rights would be or have been severed by the
adoption under section 259.59, the court or the commissioner may confirm in writing whether
or not an adoption decree has been granted and, if so, the date of the adoption decree.

new text begin (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the court administrator shall provide a certified copy
of the decree described in section 259.57, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), to an adoptive parent
or to the adult adopted person named in the decree upon presentation of proper identification.
new text end