AB227 - Revises provisions governing adoption. (BDR 11-928)

- 83rd Session (2025) Assembly Bill No. 227–Assemblymember Miller CHAPTER.......... AN ACT relating to adoption; repealing, reenacting, revising, reorganizing and establishing certain provisions relating to the adoption of children through agency adoptions, identified adoptions, close-family adoptions, confirmatory adoptions, readoptions and adoptions of children placed in the custody of agencies which provide child welfare services under certain circumstances; revising various provisions relating to the adoption of adults; requiring the Division of Child and Family Services of the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt various regulations; directing the Legislative Counsel to make various organizational changes concerning the placement of certain compacts for adoption in the Nevada Revised Statutes; providing penalties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law establishes various procedures relating to the adoption of children. (Chapter 127 of NRS) Sections 48-153, 156-215 and 239 of this bill remove, repeal, reenact, revise, reorganize and establish provisions related to the adoption of children. Specifically, sections 2-153 and 156-215 of this bill make various changes to provide: (1) general provisions applicable to the adoption of children, regardless of the type of adoption; (2) provisions governing the adoption of children in the custody of agencies which provide child welfare services; (3) provisions governing confirmatory adoptions and readoptions; (4) provisions governing close-family adoptions; and (5) provisions governing agency adoptions, identified adoptions and adult adoptions. Sections 2-46 encompass the general provisions applicable to all types of adoptions. Sections 3-29 establish various definitions applicable to adoption proceedings. Section 239 repeals various provisions of general applicability, including certain provisions related to the State Register of Adoptions, provisions governing adoption procedures, provisions concerning the licensing of child- placing agencies and provisions related to certain prohibited conduct. Sections 33- 46 reenact similar or revised provisions for the purpose of placement in the general applicability provisions. Sections 171-173, 175-177, 183, 185-188, 190, 192, 194, 196-199, 208-212 and 239 generally remove and repeal various provisions related to the adoption of children in the custody of agencies which provide child welfare services and close- family adoptions, thereby retaining the procedures related to agency adoptions and identified adoptions in chapter 127 of NRS. Sections 48-105 reenact similar, revised or new provisions for the purpose of establishing provisions that independently govern adoptions facilitated by agencies which provide child welfare services. Additionally, sections 116-153 reenact similar, revised or new provisions for the purpose of establishing independent procedures governing close-family adoptions. – 2 – - 83rd Session (2025) Sections 108-111 establish procedures for confirmatory adoptions for the purpose of authorizing a petitioner to confirm the parentage of a child under certain circumstances. Sections 112 and 113 establish procedures for readoption which authorize certain persons who adopt a child through intercountry adoption to petition the court to readopt the child. Existing law establishes the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children and the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance. (NRS 127.330, 127.410) Section 236 of this bill directs the Legislative Counsel, in the next reprint of the Nevada Revised Statutes, to cause the transfer of each Compact to a new chapter of NRS, respectively. Finally, existing law authorizes an adult to adopt another adult under certain circumstances and establishes various procedural requirements related to such adoptions. (NRS 127.005, 127.190-127.210) Sections 193-205 of this bill make various changes relating to the adoption of adults. Sections 154, 154.5 and 216-235 of this bill make conforming changes related to the reorganization of the provisions governing adoption. EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Title 11 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new chapter to consist of the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 46, inclusive, of this act. Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, chapter 127 of NRS, the chapter consisting of sections 48 to 105, inclusive, of this act, the chapter consisting of sections 107 to 114, inclusive, of this act and the chapter consisting of sections 116 to 153, inclusive, of this act, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in section 3 to 29, inclusive, of this act have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections. Sec. 3. “Adoption” means a legally recognized procedure that creates a parent-child relationship. Sec. 4. “Adoption services” means services provided by an agency which provides child welfare services or a child-placing agency, including, without limitation: 1. Identifying a child for adoption and arranging an adoption; 2. Securing a specific consent to adoption, relinquishment or termination of parental rights; 3. Performing a home study on a prospective adoptive parent and reporting on the home study; 4. Making a determination of the best interest of the child and the appropriateness of an adoptive placement for the child; – 3 – - 83rd Session (2025) 5. Conducting post-placement monitoring of a case until final adoption; or 6. Assuming custody and providing child care or any other social services pending an alternative placement, if made necessary by a disruption before final adoption. Sec. 5. “Adult” means a person who is at least 18 years of age. Sec. 6. “Adult adoption” means a type of adoption where the person being adopted is an adult. Sec. 7. “Agency adoption” means a type of adoption performed by an agency which provides child welfare services or a child-placing agency, where the agency which provides child welfare services or the child-placing agency: 1. Accepts temporary custody of a child until final adoption; and 2. Assists in and arranges the placement of a child for adoption by matching birth parents with adoptive parents and providing adoption services. Sec. 8. “Agency which provides child welfare services” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 432B.030. Sec. 9. “Arrange the placement of a child” means to make preparations for or bring about any agreement or understanding concerning the adoption of a child. Sec. 10. “Best interest of the child” means the legal standard used to ensure every decision made in the adoption process prioritizes stability, safety and permanency of the child to be adopted. Sec. 11. “Blind” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 426.082. Sec. 12. “Child” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 128.0124. Sec. 13. “Child-placing agency” means a nonprofit corporation organized pursuant to chapter 82 of NRS and licensed by the Division to place children for adoption. Sec. 14. “Child with special needs” means a child for whom placement with an adoptive parent is, in the opinion of the Administrator of the Division or the designee of the Administrator, made more difficult because of the age, race or number of siblings of the child, or because the child suffers from a severe or chronic medical, physical, mental or emotional condition. Sec. 15. “Close-family adoption” means a type of adoption where a petitioner or the spouse of a petitioner is related to the child to be adopted within the third degree of consanguinity. – 4 – - 83rd Session (2025) Sec. 16. “Confirmatory adoption” means a type of adoption where the petitioner is already a parent of a child either through a court order or presumptively and is asking the court to confirm parentage through an adoption or readoption. Sec. 17. “Division” means the Division of Child and Family Services of the Department of Health and Human Services. Sec. 18. “Domestic partner” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 122A.030. Sec. 19. “Holder of a valid registry identification card” means a person who holds a valid registry identification card as defined in NRS 678C.080 that identifies the person as: 1. Exempt from state prosecution for engaging in the medical use of cannabis; or 2. A designated primary caregiver as defined in NRS 678C.040. Sec. 20. “Identified adoption” means an adoption where: 1. None of the prospective adoptive parents are related within the third degree of consanguinity to the child to be adopted; and 2. The prospective adoptive parents and at least one of the parents of the child to be adopted are known to each other and such knowledge was not caused by the actions of a child-placing agency. Sec. 21. “Indian child” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 125E.080. Sec. 22. “Marital partner” means two persons, regardless of gender, who are at least 18 years of age, not nearer of kin than second cousins or cousins of the half blood, and not having a spouse living, who are joined in marriage. Sec. 23. “Person” means a natural person. Sec. 24. “Putative parent” means a person who is alleged or reputed to be a parent of a child but whose parentage has not been legally established. Sec. 25. “Readoption” means a type of adoption where the petitioner has previously obtained an order of adoption on the child at issue from a court of another country. Sec. 26. (Deleted by amendment.) Sec. 27. “Sibling” means each of two or more children having one or both parents in common. Sec. 28. “Spouse” means a marital partner, domestic partner, civil partner, registered partner, reciprocal beneficiary or other partner who has the same rights, protections and benefits, and is subject to the same responsibilities, obligations and duties under law, whether derived from statute, regulation, court rule, – 5 – - 83rd Session (2025) administrative policy, common law or any other provision or source of authority, as are granted to and imposed upon marital partners. Sec. 29. “Third degree of consanguinity” means the familial relationship between two persons who share a common ancestor within three generations, including, without limitation, a parent, stepparent, sibling, grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt or uncle. Sec. 30. The requirements prescribed by sections 32 to 46, inclusive, of this act are applicable to: 1. Agency adoptions, identified adoptions and, as applicable, adult adoptions governed by chapter 127 of NRS; 2. Adoptions of children who are placed with agencies which provide child welfare services governed by the chapter consisting of sections 48 to 105, inclusive, of this act; 3. Confirmatory adoptions and readoptions governed by the chapter consisting of sections 107 to 114, inclusive, of this act; and 4. Close-family adoptions governed by the chapter consisting of sections 116 to 153, inclusive, of this act. Sec. 31. (Deleted by amendment.) Sec. 32. An order of adoption and decree of adoption are both final judgments from judicial proceedings of a court granting a petition for adoption. Sec. 33. 1. The Division shall maintain the State Register for Adoptions, which is hereby established, in its central office to provide information to identify adults who were adopted and persons related to them within the third degree of consanguinity. 2. The State Register for Adoptions consists of: (a) Names and other information, which the Administrator of the Division deems to be necessary for the operation of the Register, relating to persons who have relinquished a child for adoption or have consented to the adoption of a child, or whose parental rights have been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction, and who have submitted the information voluntarily to the Division; (b) Names and other necessary information of persons who are 18 years of age or older, who were adopted and who have submitted the information voluntarily to the Division; and (c) Names and other necessary information of persons who are related within the third degree of consanguinity to adopted persons, and who have submitted the information voluntarily to the Division. – 6 – - 83rd Session (2025)  Any person whose name appears in the Register may withdraw it by requesting in writing that it be withdrawn. The Division shall immediately withdraw a name upon receiving a request to do so, and may not thereafter release any information to identify that person, including the information that such a name was ever in the Register. 3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the Division may release information: (a) About a person related within the third degree of consanguinity to an adopted person; or (b) About an adopted person to a person related within the third degree of consanguinity,  if the names and information about both persons are contained in the Register and written consent for the release of such information is given by the parent. 4. An adopted person may, by submitting a written request to the Division, restrict the release of any information concerning the adopted person to one or more categories of relatives within the third degree of consanguinity. Sec. 34. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 125E.270, the district courts of this State have original jurisdiction in adoption proceedings. Sec. 35. The same petitioners may, in one petition, petition for the adoption of two or more children, if the children are siblings. Sec. 36. All petitions, reports and orders in adoption proceedings shall be entitled only in the names of the adopting parties. Sec. 37. 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 239.0115, all hearings held in proceedings under this chapter, chapter 127 of NRS, the chapter consisting of sections 48 to 105, inclusive, of this act, the chapter consisting of sections 107 to 114, inclusive, of this act and the chapter consisting of sections 116 to 153, inclusive, of this act are confidential and must be held in closed court, without admittance of any person other than the petitioners, their witnesses, the director of an agency which provides child welfare services or a child-placing agency, or their authorized representatives, attorneys and persons entitled to notice by this chapter, chapter 127 of NRS, the chapter consisting of sections 48 to 105, i [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]