§ 78B-6-141. Petition, report, and documents sealed -- Exceptions.

(1) A petition for adoption, the written report described in Section 78B-6-135, and any other documents filed in connection with the petition are sealed.

(2) The documents described in Subsection (1) may only be open to inspection as follows:

(a) in accordance with Subsection (3)(a), by a party to the adoption proceeding:

(i) while the proceeding is pending; or

(ii) within six months after the day on which the adoption decree is entered;

(b) subject to Subsection (3)(b), a court enters an order permitting access to the documents by a person who has appealed the denial of that person's motion to intervene;

(c) upon order of the court expressly permitting inspection or copying, after good cause has been shown;

(d) as provided under Section 78B-6-144;

(e) those records shall become public on the one hundredth anniversary of the date the final decree of adoption was entered; or

(f) if the adoptee is an adult at the time the final decree of adoption is entered, the documents described in this section are open to inspection and copying without a court order by the adoptee or a parent who adopted the adoptee, unless the final decree of adoption is entered by the juvenile court under Subsection 78B-6-115(3)(b).

(3)

(a) A person who files a motion to intervene in an adoption proceeding:

(i) is not a party to the adoption proceeding, unless the motion to intervene is granted; and

(ii) may not be granted access to the documents described in Subsection (1), unless the motion to intervene is granted.

(b) An order described in Subsection (2)(b) shall:

(i) prohibit the person described in Subsection (2)(b) from inspecting a document described in Subsection (1) that contains identifying information of the adoptive or prospective adoptive parent; and

(ii) permit the person described in Subsection (3)(b)(i) to review a copy of a document described in Subsection (3)(b)(i) after the identifying information described in Subsection (3)(b)(i) is redacted from the document.

Amended by Chapter 340, 2012 General Session