KRS § 199.570 — KY Code / Title XVII / Chapter 199 / Section 199.570
199.570 Adoption records confidential -- Exception -- New birth certificate -- Change in records
Status: in_force

199.570 Adoption records confidential -- Exception -- New birth certificate --

Change in records.

(1) (a) The files and records of the court during adoption proceedings shall not be

open to inspection by persons other than parties to the proceedings, their

attorneys, and representatives of the cabinet except under order of the court

expressly permitting inspection.

(b) Upon the entry of the final order in the case, the clerk shall place all papers

and records in the case in a suitable envelope which shall be sealed, or a

digital file with restricted access, and shall not be open for inspection by any

person, except as provided in KRS 199.572. Health information received

pursuant to KRS 199.525 shall be added to the adoption case file. The clerk of

the Circuit Court shall set up a separate docket and order book for adoption

cases and these files and records shall be kept locked.

(c) No person having charge of any adoption records shall disclose the names of

any parties appearing in such records or furnish any copy of any such records

to any person or other entity that does not meet the requirements of KRS

199.572, except upon order of the court which entered the judgment of

adoption.

(2) After entry of the adoption judgment, the clerk of the Circuit Court shall promptly

report to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services of Kentucky full information

as called for on forms furnished by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,

necessary to make a new birth certificate conforming to the standard birth

certificate form. Upon receipt of this information, the Cabinet for Health and

Family Services shall cause to be made a new record of the birth and it shall be

filed with the original certificate, and the original certificate shall be stamped with

the words, "CONFIDENTIAL -- subject to copy and/or inspection only on written

order of the court."

(3) The new certificate shall set forth the new name, if any, of the adopted child, the

names of the adoptive parents, and such other information deemed necessary in

accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the Cabinet for Health and

Family Services in issuing of birth certificates. If the adopted child is under

eighteen (18) years of age, the birth certificate shall not contain any information

revealing the child is adopted and shall show the adoptive parent or parents as the

biological parent or parents of the child. If requested by the adoptive parents, the

new birth certificate when issued shall contain the location of birth, hospital, and

name of doctor or midwife. This information should be given only by an order of

the court in which the child was adopted. The new birth certificate shall recite the

residence of the adoptive parents as the birthplace of the child and this shall be

deemed for all legal purposes to be the birthplace of the child. If no birth certificate

is on file for a child born in Kentucky, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services

shall prepare a certificate of birth in accordance with the information furnished the

cabinet by the clerk of the Circuit Court which issued the adoption order. The

Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall furnish to the clerks of the Circuit

Courts the necessary forms to carry out the provisions of this section. If the child

was born in another state, the order of adoption shall be forwarded to the division of

vital statistics of the state concerned to be changed in accordance with the laws of

such state. If the child was born in a foreign country, the report of adoption shall be

returned to the attorney or agency handling the adoption for submission to the

appropriate federal agency.

(4) Thereafter when any copy of the certificate of birth of any child is issued it shall be

a copy of the new certificate of birth, except when an order of the court granting the

judgment of adoption shall request the issuance of the copy of the original

certificate of the child's birth.

(5) If any judgment of adoption is reversed, modified, or vacated in any particular, the

clerk of the Circuit Court shall notify the Cabinet for Health and Family Services of

the reversal or modification and the effect of same, and the cabinet shall make any

necessary changes in its records.