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2003 SESSION


CHAPTER 504
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 32.1-262 and 32.1-267 of the Code of Virginia, relating to adoption and marriage records.
[H 2106]
Approved March 16, 2003

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 32.1-262 and 32.1-267 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 32.1-262. Records of adoptions.

A. For each adoption decreed by a court in this Commonwealth, the court shall require the preparation of a report of adoption on a form furnished by the State Registrar. The report shall (i) include such facts as are necessary to locate and identify the original 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, place of birth and parentage of such person; (ii) provide information necessary to establish a new certificate of birth of the person adopted; and (iii) identify the order of adoption and be certified by the clerk of court. Such reports shall be prepared and issued without statements indicating racial designations.

B. Information in the possession of the petitioner necessary to prepare the report of adoption shall be furnished with the petition for adoption by each petitioner for adoption or by his attorney. In all cases where a child is placed for adoption by a child-placing agency, the report shall be completed and filed with the court by a representative of the agency. A final order of adoption shall not be entered until the information required by this section has been furnished unless the court, for good cause shown, finds the information to be unavailable or unnecessary.

C. On or before the tenth day of each month, the clerk of such court shall forward to the State Registrar all records of decrees of adoption entered in the preceding calendar month, together with such related reports as the State Registrar may require.

D. When the State Registrar receives a report of adoption, annulment of adoption, amendment, or amendment of a decree of adoption for a person born outside this Commonwealth, such report shall be forwarded to the appropriate registration authority in the state of birth. When the State Registrar receives a report of adoption from a court in this Commonwealth for a person born in a foreign country, a birth certificate shall be registered for such person in accordance with the provisions of § 32.1-261, and a copy of the report of adoption shall be transmitted to the appropriate federal agency.

§ 32.1-267. Records of marriages; duties of officer issuing marriage license and person officiating at ceremony; blocking of social security number.

A. For each marriage performed in this Commonwealth, a record showing personal data for the married parties, the marriage license, and the certifying statement of the facts of marriage shall be filed with the State Registrar as provided in this section. Such record shall be prepared without statements indicating racial designation.

B. The officer issuing a marriage license shall prepare the record based on the information obtained under oath or by affidavit from the parties to be married. The parties shall also include their social security numbers or other control numbers issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to § 46.2-342 and affix their signatures to the application for such license.

C. Every person who officiates at a marriage ceremony shall certify to the facts of marriage and file the record in duplicate with the officer who issued the marriage license within five days after the ceremony. In the event such officiant dies or becomes incapacitated before completing the certificate of marriage, the official who issued the marriage license shall complete the certificate of marriage upon the order of the court to which is submitted proof that the marriage was performed.

D. Every officer issuing marriage licenses shall on or before the tenth day of each calendar month forward to the State Registrar a record of each marriage filed with him during the preceding calendar month.

E. The State Registrar shall furnish forms for the marriage license, marriage certificate, and application for marriage license used in this Commonwealth. Such forms shall be configured so as to cause the social security number or control number required pursuant to the provisions of subsection B to appear only on the application for marriage license retained by the officer issuing the marriage license and the copy of such license forwarded to the State Registrar pursuant to the provisions of subsection D.

F. Applications for marriage licenses filed on and after July 1, 1997, and marriage registers recording such applications, which have not been configured to prevent disclosure of the social security number or control number required pursuant to the provisions of subsection B of this section shall not be available for general public inspection in the offices of clerks of the circuit courts. The clerk shall make such applications and registers available for inspection only (i) upon the order of the circuit court within which such application was made or register is maintained, (ii) pursuant to a lawful subpoena duces tecum issued to the clerk, (iii) upon the written authorization of either of the applicants, or (iv) upon the request of a law-enforcement officer or duly authorized representative of the Division of Child Support Enforcement in the course of performing his official duties. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict public access to marriage licenses or to prohibit the clerk from making available to the public applications for marriage licenses and marriage registers stored in any electronic medium or other format that permits the blocking of the field containing the social security or control number required pursuant to the provisions of subsection B of this section, so long as access to such number is blocked.