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1 | AN ACT concerning civil law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section | ||||||
5 | 12.1 as follows:
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6 | (750 ILCS 50/12.1)
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7 | Sec. 12.1. Putative Father Registry. The Department of | ||||||
8 | Children and Family
Services shall establish a Putative Father | ||||||
9 | Registry for the purpose of
determining the
identity and | ||||||
10 | location of a putative father of a minor child who is, or is
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11 | expected to be, the subject of an adoption proceeding, in order | ||||||
12 | to provide
notice of such proceeding to the putative father. | ||||||
13 | The Department of Children
and Family Services shall establish | ||||||
14 | rules and informational material necessary
to implement the | ||||||
15 | provisions of this Section. The Department shall have the
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16 | authority to set reasonable fees for the use of the Registry. | ||||||
17 | All such fees for the use of the Registry that are received by | ||||||
18 | the Department or its agent shall be deposited into the fund | ||||||
19 | authorized under subsection (b) of Section 25 of the Children | ||||||
20 | and Family Services Act. The Department shall use the moneys in | ||||||
21 | that fund for the purpose of maintaining the Registry.
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22 | (a) The Department shall maintain the following | ||||||
23 | information in the Registry:
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1 | (1) With respect to the putative father:
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2 | (i) Name, including any other names by which the | ||||||
3 | putative father may be
known and that he may provide to | ||||||
4 | the Registry;
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5 | (ii) Address at which he may be served with notice | ||||||
6 | of a petition under
this Act, including any change of | ||||||
7 | address;
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8 | (iii) Social Security Number;
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9 | (iv) Date of birth; and
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10 | (v) If applicable, a certified copy of an order by | ||||||
11 | a court of this
State or of another
state or territory | ||||||
12 | of the United States adjudicating the putative father | ||||||
13 | to be
the father of the child.
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14 | (2) With respect to the mother of the child:
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15 | (i) Name, including all other names known to the | ||||||
16 | putative father by
which the mother may be known;
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17 | (ii) If known to the putative father, her last | ||||||
18 | address;
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19 | (iii) Social Security
Number; and
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20 | (iv) Date of birth.
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21 | (3) If known to the putative father, the name, gender, | ||||||
22 | place of birth, and
date of birth or anticipated date of | ||||||
23 | birth of the child.
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24 | (4) The date that the Department received the putative | ||||||
25 | father's
registration.
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26 | (5) Other information as the Department may by rule |
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1 | determine
necessary for the orderly administration of the | ||||||
2 | Registry.
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3 | (b) A putative father may register with the Department | ||||||
4 | before the birth of
the child but shall register no later than | ||||||
5 | 40 30 days after the birth of the
child.
All
registrations | ||||||
6 | shall be in writing and signed by the putative father. No fee
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7 | shall be charged for the initial registration. The Department | ||||||
8 | shall have no
independent obligation to gather the information | ||||||
9 | to be maintained.
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10 | (c) An interested party, including persons intending to | ||||||
11 | adopt a child, a
child welfare agency with whom the mother has | ||||||
12 | placed or has given written
notice of her intention to place a | ||||||
13 | child for adoption, the mother of the child,
or an attorney | ||||||
14 | representing an interested party may request that the
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15 | Department search the Registry to determine whether a putative | ||||||
16 | father is
registered in relation to a child who is or may be | ||||||
17 | the subject to an adoption
petition.
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18 | (d) A search of the Registry may be proven by the | ||||||
19 | production of a certified
copy of the registration form, or by | ||||||
20 | the certified statement of the
administrator of the Registry | ||||||
21 | that after a search, no registration of a
putative father in | ||||||
22 | relation to a child who is or may be the subject of an
adoption | ||||||
23 | petition could be located.
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24 | (e) Except as otherwise provided, information contained | ||||||
25 | within the
Registry is confidential and shall not be published | ||||||
26 | or open to public
inspection.
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1 | (f) A person who knowingly or intentionally registers false
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2 | information under this Section commits a Class B misdemeanor.
A | ||||||
3 | person who knowingly or intentionally releases confidential | ||||||
4 | information
in violation of this Section commits a Class B | ||||||
5 | misdemeanor.
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6 | (g) Except as provided in subsections (b) or (c) of Section | ||||||
7 | 8 of this Act, a putative
father who
fails to register with the | ||||||
8 | Putative Father Registry as provided in this Section
is barred | ||||||
9 | from thereafter bringing or maintaining any action to assert | ||||||
10 | any
interest in the child, unless he proves : | ||||||
11 | (1) by clear and convincing evidence that: | ||||||
12 | (A) it was not possible for him to register within
the | ||||||
13 | period of time specified in subsection (b) of this Section; | ||||||
14 | and | ||||||
15 | (B) his failure to register was through no fault of
his | ||||||
16 | own; and | ||||||
17 | (C) he registered within 10 days after it became
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18 | possible for him to file; or | ||||||
19 | (2) by clear and convincing evidence that a fraud has | ||||||
20 | been perpetrated upon the court. | ||||||
21 | by clear and convincing evidence that:
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22 | (1) it was not possible for him to register within the | ||||||
23 | period of time
specified in subsection (b) of this Section; | ||||||
24 | and
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25 | (2) his failure to register was through no fault of his | ||||||
26 | own; and
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1 | (3) he registered within 10 days after it became | ||||||
2 | possible for him to file.
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3 | A putative father who files a verified petition alleging | ||||||
4 | facts sufficient to meet the requirements of the exception set | ||||||
5 | forth in this subsection (g) is entitled to a hearing limited | ||||||
6 | solely to whether his registration falls within said exception, | ||||||
7 | however, in no event is a putative father entitled to a hearing | ||||||
8 | if said petition is filed after the entry of an order | ||||||
9 | terminating the parental rights of said putative father. A lack | ||||||
10 | of knowledge of the pregnancy or birth is not an acceptable | ||||||
11 | reason for
failure to register.
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12 | (h) Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) of Section | ||||||
13 | 8 of this Act, failure to timely
register with the Putative | ||||||
14 | Father Registry (i) shall be deemed to be a waiver
and | ||||||
15 | surrender of any right to notice of any hearing in any judicial | ||||||
16 | proceeding
for the adoption of the child, and the consent or | ||||||
17 | surrender of that
person to the adoption of
the
child is not | ||||||
18 | required, and (ii) shall constitute an abandonment of the child
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19 | and shall be prima facie evidence of sufficient grounds to | ||||||
20 | support termination
of such
father's parental rights under this | ||||||
21 | Act.
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22 | (i) In any adoption proceeding pertaining to a child born | ||||||
23 | out of wedlock, if
there is no showing that a putative father | ||||||
24 | has executed a consent or
surrender or waived his
rights | ||||||
25 | regarding the proposed adoption, certification as specified in
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26 | subsection (d) shall be filed with the court prior to entry of |
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1 | a final
judgment order of adoption.
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2 | (j) The Registry shall not be used to notify a putative | ||||||
3 | father who is the
father of a child as a result of criminal | ||||||
4 | sexual abuse or assault as defined
under Article 12 of the | ||||||
5 | Criminal Code of 1961.
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6 | (Source: P.A. 94-1010, eff. 10-1-06.)
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