January 15, 2015, Introduced by Rep. Kosowski and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.
A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled
"Public health code,"
by amending section 2805 (MCL 333.2805), as amended by 1996 PA 307,
and by adding sections 2893, 2893a, 2893b, 2893c, 2893d, and 2893e.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2805. (1) "State registrar" means the official appointed
under section 2813 or his or her authorized representative.
(2) "System of vital statistics" means the collection,
certification, compilation, amendment, coordination, and
preservation of vital records, including the tabulation, analysis,
and publication of vital statistics.
(3) "Vital record" means a certificate or registration of
birth, death, marriage, or divorce; an acknowledgment of parentage;
an entry in the responsible father registry created in section
2893; or related data.
(4) "Vital statistics" means data derived from vital records
and related reports.
Sec. 2893. (1) As used in this section and sections 2893a to
2893e:
(a) "Child placing agency" means that term as defined in
section 1 of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111.
(b) "Registry" means the responsible father registry created
in subsection (2).
(c) "Support enforcement agency" means that term as defined in
section 104 of the uniform interstate family support act, 1996 PA
310, MCL 552.1104.
(2) The department shall administer and maintain a registry to
be known as the "responsible father registry". The department shall
include in the registry all registrations filed as described in
section 2893a and all registrations filed in another state under
similar laws of that state and presented to the department for
filing.
Sec. 2893a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3)
or unless notice is given under subsection (5), a man who desires
to be notified of a proceeding for adoption of a child or
termination of parental rights regarding a child whom he may have
fathered shall register with the registry before the child's birth
or not more than 5 days, excluding weekends and holidays, after the
child's birth. A registrant may promptly notify the registry of any
change in the information registered, including, but not limited
to, change of address. The department shall incorporate all new
information received into its records but is not required to obtain
current information for incorporation in the registry.
(2) A man's parental rights are not waived by failing to
register with the registry if the man has established paternity
according to the paternity act, 1956 PA 205, MCL 722.711 to
722.730, or the acknowledgment of parentage act, 1996 PA 305, MCL
722.1001 to 722.1013.
(3) Failure to register with the registry according to
subsection (1) waives a man's right to receive the notice to which
he is otherwise entitled and is a denial of his interest in custody
of the child, which denial shall result in the court's termination
of his parental rights to the child unless the man was led to
believe through the birth mother's fraud that the pregnancy was
terminated or the mother miscarried when in fact the baby was born
or that the child died when in fact the child is alive. The man
must register with the registry not more than 5 days, excluding
weekends and holidays, after discovering the fraud described in
this subsection.
(4) A child placing agency or an attorney involved in the
proposed adoption shall give notice of a proceeding for the
adoption of a child or termination of parental rights regarding a
child to a registrant who has registered in a timely manner
according to subsection (1). A man who registers with the registry
in a timely manner is entitled to notice of any hearing involving
the child who is the subject of the registration to determine the
father's identity of that child and any hearing to determine or
terminate the father's parental rights to that child.
(5) A man who has engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman
is considered to be on legal notice that a child may be conceived
and the man is entitled to all legal rights and obligations as a
result. Lack of knowledge of the pregnancy does not excuse failure
to register in a timely manner. In the event that the identity and
whereabouts of the putative father or alleged father are reasonably
ascertainable, a child placing agency or an attorney involved in
the proposed adoption shall provide the putative father or alleged
father with written notice of the mother's intended release or
consent to adoption and the availability of registration with the
registry by personal service or by certified mailing return receipt
request with delivery restricted to the addressee using the man's
last known address. Personal service or certified mailing may be
either before or after the child's birth. If executed before the
child's birth, the man has not more than 5 days, excluding weekends
and holidays, from the date of the child's birth to register. If
executed after the child's birth, the man has not more than 5 days,
excluding weekends and holidays, from the date of the personal
service or receipt of the certified mailing to register. The child
placing agency or the attorney involved in the proposed adoption
shall prepare an affidavit documenting all efforts made to provide
the putative father or alleged father with the written notice
required under this subsection.
(6) The department shall prepare a form for registering with
the registry that includes all of the following:
(a) The registrant's name, date of birth, and social security
number.
(b) The registrant's driver license number and state of
issuance.
(c) The registrant's home address, telephone number, and
employer.
(d) The name, date of birth, ethnicity, address, and telephone
number of the mother, if known.
(e) The state, city, and place where conception occurred and
the approximate date of possible conception.
(f) The child's place and date of birth, if known.
(g) The child's name and gender, if known.
(h) The registrant's signature. A form for registering with
the registry is not complete unless signed by the registrant and
notarized.
(7) The form described in subsection (6) shall also include a
statement regarding all of the following:
(a) Registration in a timely manner entitles the registrant to
notice of a proceeding for adoption of the child or termination of
the registrant's parental rights.
(b) Registration does not initiate a proceeding to establish
paternity.
(c) The information disclosed on the form may be used against
the registrant to establish paternity.
(d) Services to assist in filing with the registry are
available to the registrant through the department.
(e) The registrant should also register in another state if
conception or the child's birth occurred in another state.
(f) Information on registries of other states may be available
from the department.
(g) The form is signed under penalty of perjury.
Sec. 2893b. (1) The department is not required to locate the
mother of a child who is the subject of a registration, but the
department shall send a copy of the notice of registration to the
mother if an address is provided.
(2) Information contained in the registry is confidential and
may only be released on request to 1 or more of the following:
(a) The registrant.
(b) A court of this state or another state or a person
designated by a court of this state or another state.
(c) The mother of the child who is the subject of the
registration.
(d) An agency authorized by law to receive the information.
(e) A child placing agency of this state or of another state.
(f) A support enforcement agency.
(g) The child's guardian ad litem.
(h) A party or the party's attorney of record in an adoption
proceeding, custody proceeding, paternity proceeding, or in a
proceeding for termination of parental rights, regarding a child
who is the subject of the registration.
(i) A putative father registry in another state.
(3) Information contained in the registry is exempt from
disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.231 to 15.246.
(4) An individual who intentionally releases information from
the registry to an individual or agency not authorized under this
section to receive the information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(5) When the department receives a record of adoption, the
department shall cross-reference that information with the
information on the registry and remove all entries relating to the
child who is the subject of the adoption record.
Sec. 2893c. (1) If paternity has not been established
according to the paternity act, 1956 PA 205, MCL 722.711 to
722.730, or the acknowledgment of parentage act, 1996 PA 305, MCL
722.1001 to 722.1013, a petitioner for adoption shall obtain from
the department a certificate that a search of the registry was
performed. If the child's conception or birth occurred in another
state, a petitioner for adoption shall obtain a certificate from
that state indicating that a search of the putative father registry
was performed, if that state has a putative father registry.
(2) The department shall provide to a requester a certificate
of search of the registry upon the request of an individual, court,
or agency listed in section 2893b. The certificate of search shall
be signed on behalf of the department. The certificate of search
shall state that a search has been made of the registry and either
a registration containing the information required to identify the
registrant has been found and is attached to the certificate of
search or a registration has not been found. Not later than 4
business days after receipt of the request, the department shall
mail the certificate of search to the requestor by United States
mail. Upon request of the requestor and payment of any additional
costs, the department shall have the certificate of search
delivered to the requestor by overnight mail, in person, by
messenger, by facsimile, or by other electronic communication. The
department's certificate of search or an appropriate certificate of
search from another state is sufficient proof that the registry was
searched.
(3) A certificate of search and the affidavit required in
section 2893a(5) documenting the efforts made to provide written
notice to the putative father or alleged father of the proposed
adoption must be filed with the court before a proceeding for
adoption of a child born out of wedlock and before a proceeding for
termination of parental rights regarding a child may be concluded.
(4) A certificate of search of the registry is admissible in a
proceeding for adoption of a child or termination of parental
rights regarding a child and, if relevant, in any other legal
proceeding.
Sec. 2893d. (1) The department shall allow for an online
update of information to the registrant.
(2) The department shall produce and distribute a pamphlet or
other publication informing the public about the registry that
shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(a) The procedures for registering with the registry.
(b) The consequences of registering and failing to register
with the registry in a timely manner.
(c) A description of the registry, including to whom and under
what circumstances the registry applies.
(d) The time limits and responsibilities for filing.
(e) The procedures for updating registration information
online.
(f) Other appropriate provisions of this section.
(3) The pamphlet or publication described in subsection (2)
shall include a detachable form that meets the requirements of
section 2893a(6), is suitable for United States mail, and is
addressed to the registry. The pamphlet or publication shall be
made available for distribution at all offices of the department
and all local department offices. The department shall also provide
the pamphlets or publications to hospitals, libraries, medical
clinics, correctional facilities, county or city jails or lockups,
schools, universities, courts, child placing agencies, and other
providers of child-related services upon request.
(4) The department shall provide information to the public
through public service announcements, or other ways to deliver
information to the public about the registry and its services.
Beginning January 1, 2017, the department may discontinue providing
information about the registry through public service
announcements.
Sec. 2893e. (1) The registry fund is created within the state
treasury.
(2) The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from
any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall
direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit
to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments.
(3) Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall
remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund.
(4) The department shall be the administrator of the fund for
auditing purposes.
(5) The department shall expend money from the fund, upon
appropriation, only for the purposes of implementing and
administering the provisions of this section and sections 2893 to
2893d.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January
1, 2016.