(1) The Department of Child Protection Services shall maintain a Mississippi Adoption Resource Exchange registry, which shall contain a total listing of all children freed for adoption as well as a listing of all persons who wish to adopt children and who are approved by a licensed adoption agency in the State of Mississippi. The registry shall be distributed to all county offices of child protection services and licensed adoption agencies within the state and shall be updated at least quarterly. The Department of Child Protection Services shall establish regulations for listing descriptive characteristics while protecting the privacy of the children's names. Listed names shall be removed when adoption placement plans are made for a child or when a person withdraws an application for adoption.(2) Adoptive parents shall be given the option of having their names placed in the registry. To be placed in the registry, they shall be required to give written authority to the Department of Child Protection Services.Laws, 1978, ch. 443, § 1(6)(7), eff. 3/28/1978.Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 516, HB 1149,§ 39, eff. 7/1/2023.
Mississippi Legal Code