Ohio Revised Code|Section 3107.17 | Closed hearing - confidentiality - records.

                                                
(A) All hearings held under sections 3107.01  to 3107.19 of the Revised Code shall be held in closed court  without the admittance of any person other than essential officers  of the court, the parties, the witnesses of the parties, counsel,  persons who have not previously consented to an adoption but who  are required to consent, and representatives of the agencies  present to perform their official duties. 
(B)(1) Except as provided in divisions (B)(2) and (D) of this  section, sections 3107.38 and 3107.381, and sections 3107.60 to  3107.68 of the Revised Code, no person or governmental entity  shall knowingly reveal any information contained in a paper, book,  or record pertaining to an adoption that is part of the permanent  record of a court or maintained by the department of job and  family services, an agency, or attorney without the consent of a  court.
(2) An agency or attorney may examine the agency's or  attorney's own papers, books, and records pertaining to an  adoption without a court's consent for official administrative  purposes. The department of job and family services may examine  its own papers, books, and records pertaining to an adoption, or  such papers, books, and records of an agency, without a court's  consent for official administrative, certification, and  eligibility determination purposes.
(C) The petition, the interlocutory order, the final decree  of adoption, and other adoption proceedings shall be recorded in a  book kept for such purposes and shall be separately indexed. The  book shall be a part of the records of the court, and all  consents, affidavits, and other papers shall be properly filed.
(D) All forms that pertain to the social or medical histories  of the biological parents of an adopted person and that were  completed pursuant to section 3107.09, 3107.091, or 3107.393 of  the Revised Code shall be filed only in the permanent record kept  by the court. During the minority of the adopted person, only the  adoptive parents of the person may inspect the forms. When an  adopted person reaches majority, only the adopted person may  inspect the forms. Under the circumstances described in this  division, an adopted person or the adoptive parents are entitled  to inspect the forms upon requesting the clerk of the court to  produce them.
(E)(1) The department of job and family services shall  prescribe a form that permits any person who is authorized by  division (D) of this section to inspect forms that pertain to the  social or medical histories of the biological parents and that  were completed pursuant to section 3107.09, 3107.091, or 3107.393  of the Revised Code to request notice if any correction or  expansion of either such history, made pursuant to division (D) of  section 3107.09 of the Revised Code, is made a part of the  permanent record kept by the court. The form shall be designed to  facilitate the provision of the information and statements  described in division (E)(3) of this section. The department shall  provide copies of the form to each court. A court shall provide a  copy of the request form to each adoptive parent when a final  decree of adoption is entered and shall explain to each adoptive  parent at that time that an adoptive parent who completes and  files the form will be notified of any correction or expansion of  either the social or medical history of the biological parents of  the adopted person made during the minority of the adopted person  that is made a part of the permanent record kept by the court, and  that, during the adopted person's minority, the adopted person may  inspect the forms that pertain to those histories. Upon request,  the court also shall provide a copy of the request form to any  adoptive parent during the minority of the adopted person and to  an adopted person who has reached the age of majority.
(2) Any person who is authorized to inspect forms pursuant to  division (D) of this section who wishes to be notified of  corrections or expansions pursuant to division (D) of section  3107.09 of the Revised Code that are made a part of the permanent  record kept by the court shall file with the court, on a copy of  the form prescribed by the department of job and family services  pursuant to division (E)(1) of this section, a request for such  notification that contains the information and statements required  by division (E)(3) of this section. A request may be filed at any  time if the person who files the request is authorized at that  time to inspect forms that pertain to the social or medical  histories.
(3) A request for notification as described in division  (E)(2) of this section shall contain all of the following  information:
(a) The adopted person's name and mailing address at that  time;
(b) The name of each adoptive parent, and if the adoptive  person is a minor at the time of the filing of the request, the  mailing address of each adoptive parent at that time;
(c) The adopted person's date of birth;
(d) The date of entry of the final decree of adoption;
(e) A statement requesting the court to notify the person who  files the request, at the address provided in the request, if any  correction or expansion of either the social or medical history of  the biological parents is made a part of the permanent record kept  by the court;
(f) A statement that the person who files the request is  authorized, at the time of the filing, to inspect the forms that  pertain to the social and medical histories of the biological  parents;
(g) The signature of the person who files the request.
(4) Upon the filing of a request for notification in  accordance with division (E)(2) of this section, the clerk of the  court in which it is filed immediately shall insert the request in  the permanent record of the case. A person who has filed the  request and who wishes to update it with respect to a new mailing  address may inform the court in writing of the new address. Upon  its receipt, the court promptly shall insert the new address into  the permanent record by attaching it to the request. Thereafter,  any notification described in this division shall be sent to the  new address.
(5) Whenever a social or medical history of a biological  parent is corrected or expanded and the correction or expansion is  made a part of the permanent record kept by the court, the court  shall ascertain whether a request for notification has been filed  in accordance with division (E)(2) of this section. If such a  request has been filed, the court shall determine whether, at that  time, the person who filed the request is authorized, under  division (D) of this section, to inspect the forms that pertain to  the social or medical history of the biological parents. If the  court determines that the person who filed the request is so  authorized, it immediately shall notify the person that the social  or medical history has been corrected or expanded, that it has  been made a part of the permanent record kept by the court, and  that the forms that pertain to the records may be inspected in  accordance with division (D) of this section.