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AB 227

Revises provisions governing adoption. (BDR 11-928)

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Brittney Miller

Nevada AB 227 reorganizes adoption law into separate chapters by type, updates consent, home study, and post-placement rules, and requires DCFS rulemaking.

Approved by the Governor. Chapter 239.
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Bill Summary · AB 227

AB 227 — Summary (BDR 11-928)

Status: Approved by Governor (Chapter 239). Enacted June 3, 2025.
Sponsor: Assemblymember Miller. Introduced Jan 10, 2025. Passed both houses (reprints and amendments adopted); final enrollment May 29, 2025.

Purpose / Intent

AB 227 comprehensively reorganizes, revises and reenacts Nevada law governing adoption. It separates and updates procedures for different types of adoptions (agency, identified, close‑family, confirmatory, readoption, adult adoptions), creates definitions and standards for adoption services and records, and requires the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to adopt implementing regulations for child‑placing and child welfare agencies.

Key provisions and changes

  • Repeals, reenacts and reorganizes many existing adoption statutes to create clearer, separate chapters for:
    • General adoption provisions
    • Adoptions of children in custody of agencies which provide child welfare services
    • Close‑family adoptions
    • Agency and identified adoptions
    • Confirmatory adoptions and readoptions
    • Adult adoptions
  • Adds and clarifies statutory definitions (e.g., “adoption services,” “agency adoption,” “identified adoption,” “confirmatory adoption,” “re‑adoption,” “post‑placement investigation,” “best interest of the child”).
  • Establishes registries and publication requirements specific to adoptions of children in custody of child welfare agencies; distinguishes those requirements from existing registers (State Register for Adoptions / Register of Children with Special Needs).
  • Rewrites procedures for: consent, relinquishment, termination of parental rights, home studies and post‑placement investigations, placement and matching by agencies, postadoptive contact agreements, and confirmatory/readoption petitions (including for some intercountry adoptions).
  • Clarifies adult adoption provisions (procedures and effects).
  • Directs Legislative Counsel to reorganize certain interstate compacts (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children and Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance) into new NRS chapters.
  • Requires DCFS to adopt regulations governing child‑placing agencies and related processes.
  • Includes penalties and other conforming changes.

Notable amendments and technical edits

  • Conceptual/drafting amendments (proposed by Kimberly Surratt) replaced many uses of “video appearance” with the term “remote appearance” to align with Supreme Court rules and shortened a filing/reporting timeline from 14 to 7 days for certain agency reports (or as directed by the court).
  • Assembly Amendment No. 225 removed an initial “unfunded mandate” designation.
  • Senate Amendment No. 671 and other reprints adjusted statutory organization and language throughout the bill.

Who is affected

  • Agencies: child welfare agencies and licensed child‑placing agencies (new/regulatory requirements; DCFS rulemaking).
  • Courts and practitioners: revised procedures, new categories (confirmatory/readoption), remote appearance language.
  • Families: prospective adoptive parents, placing/birth parents (revised consent/relinquishment and postadoptive contact rules), children in state custody, intercountry adoption families, and adults pursuing adult adoptions.
  • State and local government: bill notes “Effect on the State: Yes” and “Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.”

Fiscal & procedural notes

  • Fiscal impact: bill cites effects on the State and potentially local governments; initial draft contained an unfunded mandate that was later removed by amendment.
  • Effective date: enacted as Chapter 239 (Governor approved June 3, 2025). DCFS must promulgate regulations to implement delegated regulatory requirements (timing to be set by rulemaking process).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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