§ 15-7-8 - Notice to parents – Notice when no parent living or when parent in mental institution.
SECTION 15-7-8
§ 15-7-8 Notice to parents – Noticewhen no parent living or when parent in mental institution. – (a) The notice required in § 15-7-7 shall be as follows: If a parent doesnot consent in writing to the adoption of his or her child, the court shallorder a copy of the petition and order that copy to be served on him or her,personally, if found in the state; and if not, notice of the petition foradoption shall be published once in any newspaper that the court directs. Likenotice shall also be published whenever a child has no parent living.
(b) Whenever a parent is confined in any asylum, hospital, orinstitution for mental illness, whether the asylum, hospital, or institution issituated within or out of the state, the court shall order a copy of thepetition and order that copy, subsequently referred to as the notice, to beserved on him or her personally, which notice, if to be served within thestate, shall be served by an officer authorized by law to serve citations; butif the notice is to be served out of the state, it may be served by anydisinterested person, who shall make return, upon oath, that he or she has madeservice of the notice, the manner in which, the time when, and the place wherethe service was made; provided, that before any officer or disinterested personmakes service of the notice, he or she shall apply to the physician in chargeof the asylum, hospital, or institution where the person upon whom the noticeto be served is confined, and if the physician shall return, upon oath, on theback of the notice, that in his or her opinion service of the notice upon theperson will be injurious to his or her mental health, the officer or personcharged with the service shall leave a copy of the notice, with the physician'sreturn, with the keeper of the asylum, hospital, or institution and shallreturn the notice, with a statement of his or her actions regarding the notice,to the court without further service; and upon return being made in eithercase, the court, having first appointed a guardian ad litem for the parent, mayproceed to act upon the petition and order.