Minnesota SF 4382: Court administrator requirement to provide adoption records to adoptive parents and adult adoptees

Status: Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety (as of 2026-03-11)

State: Minnesota · Session: 2025-2026 · Bill: SF 4382

Subjects: Children and families and Children, Youth and Families Department, Courts

Sponsors: Maye Quade

Bill Text

1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to records; requiring the court administrator to provide adoption records
1.3 to adoptive parents and adult adoptees; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections
1.4 144.218, subdivision 2; 144.2252, subdivision 2; 259.21, by adding a subdivision;
1.5 259.60, subdivision 2; 259.61.
1.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.218, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.8 Subd. 2.Adoption of foreign persons.In proceedings for the adoption of a person who
1.9 was born in a foreign country, the court, upon evidence presented by the commissioner of
1.10 children, youth, and families from information secured at the port of entry or upon evidence
1.11 from other reliable sources, may make findings of fact as to the date and place of birth and
1.12 parentage. Upon receipt of certified copies of the court findings and the order or decree of
1.13 adoption, a certificate of adoption, or a certified copy of a decree issued under section
1.14 259.60, the state registrar shall register a birth record in the new name of the adopted person.
1.15 The certified copies of the court findings and the order or decree of adoption, certificate of
1.16 adoption, or decree issued under section 259.60 are private data, pursuant to section 13.02,
1.17 subdivision 12, and shall not be disclosed except pursuant to court order or section 144.2252
1.18 259.60, subdivision 2, paragraph (d). The birth record shall state the place of birth as
1.19 specifically as possible and that the vital record is not evidence of United States citizenship.
1.20 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.2252, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.21 Subd. 2.Release of original birth record.(a) The state registrar must provide to an
1.22 adopted person who is 18 years of age or older or a person related to the adopted person a
1.23 copy of the adopted person's original birth record and any evidence of the adoption previously
1Sec. 2.
26-07371 as introduced02/26/26 REVISOR DTT/RC
SENATE
STATE OF MINNESOTA
S.F. No. 4382NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
(SENATE AUTHORS: MAYE QUADE)
OFFICIAL STATUSD-PGDATE
Introduction and first reading659903/11/2026
Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety

2.1 filed with the state registrar. To receive a copy of an original birth record under this
2.2 subdivision, the adopted person or person related to the adopted person must make the
2.3 request to the state registrar in writing. The copy of the original birth record must clearly
2.4 indicate that it may not be used for identification purposes. All procedures, fees, and waiting
2.5 periods applicable to a nonadopted person's request for a copy of a birth record apply in the
2.6 same manner as requests made under this section.
2.7 (b) If a contact preference form is attached to the original birth record as authorized
2.8 under section 144.2253, the state registrar must provide a copy of the contact preference
2.9 form along with the copy of the adopted person's original birth record.
2.10 (c) The state registrar shall provide a transcript of an adopted person's original birth
2.11 record to an authorized representative of a federally recognized American Indian Tribe for
2.12 the sole purpose of determining the adopted person's eligibility for enrollment or membership.
2.13 Information contained in the birth record may not be used to provide the adopted person
2.14 information about the person's birth parents, except as provided in this section or section
2.15 259.83.
2.16 (d) For a replacement birth record issued under section 144.218, the adopted person or
2.17 a person related to the adopted person may obtain from the state registrar copies of the order
2.18 or decree of adoption, certificate of adoption, or decree issued under section 259.60, as filed
2.19 with the state registrar.
2.20 (e) (d) The state registrar may request assistance from the commissioner of children,
2.21 youth, and families if needed to discharge duties under this section, as authorized under
2.22 section 259.79.
2.23 Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.21, is amended by adding a subdivision to
2.24 read:
2.25 Subd. 2b.Adult adopted person."Adult adopted person" means a person 18 years of
2.26 age or older who was adopted as a child pursuant to a decree of adoption described in section
2.27 259.57, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), or 259.60, subdivision 2, paragraph (a).
2.28 Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 259.60, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.29 Subd. 2.Amended birth record; procedure and order; decree recognizing
2.30 adoption.(a) Under the procedures in paragraph (b), a person, whose adoption of a child
2.31 under the laws of a foreign country is valid in this state under subdivision 1, may petition
2.32 the district court in the county where the adoptive parent resides for a decree confirming
2Sec. 4.
26-07371

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