Rhode Island General Laws Title 23. Health and Safety § 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).

(a) If any certificate of birth is rejected by the state registrar of vital records, including a delayed certificate of birth under the provisions of § 23-3-12, the applicant may, in the absence of an order from the family court, acknowledging or establishing paternity, or change in parentage through adoption, petition the superior court for an order establishing a record of the date and place of the birth and the parentage of the person whose birth is to be registered. The superior court shall have sole jurisdiction over proceedings relating to certificates of birth rejected by the state registrar of vital records.

(b) The petition shall allege:

(c) The petition shall be accompanied by all documentary evidence which was submitted to the registration official in support of the registration. The petition shall be sworn to by the petitioner.

(d) The superior court shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition and shall give the registrar of vital records ten (10) days notice of the hearing. The registrar of vital records, or his or her authorized representative, may appear and testify in the proceeding.

(e) If the superior court from the evidence presented finds that the person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this state, it shall make findings as to the place and date of birth, parentage, and any other findings that the case may require and shall issue an order to establish a record of birth. The superior court may use a form prescribed and furnished by the state registrar of vital records. This order shall include the birth data to be registered; a description of the evidence presented in the manner prescribed by § 23-3-12; and the date of the superior court's action.

(f) The clerk of the superior court shall forward each order to establish a record of birth to the state registrar of vital records not later than the tenth (10th) day of the calendar month following the month in which it was entered. The order shall be registered by the state registrar of vital records and shall constitute the record of birth, from which copies may be issued in accordance with §§ 23-3-24 and 23-3-25.