Title 23
Health and Safety

Chapter 3
Vital Records

R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-14

§ 23-3-14. Court reports of adoption.

(a) For each adoption decreed by any court in this state, the court shall require the preparation of a record of adoption on a form prescribed and furnished by the state registrar of vital records. The record shall include those facts that are necessary to locate and identify the certificate of birth of the person adopted or, in the case of a person who was born in a foreign country, evidence from sources determined to be reliable by the court as to the date and place of birth of the person; provide information necessary to establish a new certificate of birth of the person adopted; and shall identify the order of adoption and be certified by the clerk of court.

(b) Information in the possession of the petitioner necessary to prepare the adoption report shall be furnished with the petition for adoption by each petitioner for adoption or his or her attorney. The welfare agency or other person concerned shall supply the court with any additional information in their possession that may be necessary to complete the record. The provision of that information shall be a prerequisite to the issuance of a final decree in the matter by the court.

(c) Whenever an adoption decree is amended or annulled, the clerk of the court shall prepare a certificate which shall include the facts that are necessary to identify the original adoption report and the facts amended in the adoption decree that shall be necessary to properly amend the birth record.

(d) Not later than the tenth (10th) day of each calendar month, the clerk of the court shall forward to the state registrar of vital records records of decrees of adoption, annulment of adoption, or amendments of those entered in the preceding month, together with any related reports that the state registrar of vital records shall require.

(e) When the state registrar of vital records shall receive a record of adoption, annulment of adoption, or amendment of those from a court for a person born outside this state, that record shall be forwarded to the appropriate registration authority in the state of birth. If the birth occurred in a foreign country, and the child was not a citizen of the United States at the time of birth, the state registrar shall prepare a “certificate of foreign birth” as provided by § 23-3-15(e)(1).

History of Section.
P.L. 1961, ch. 87, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 193, § 1.