§ 19-5-213 — Compensation for placing child prohibited

(1) (a) No person shall
offer, give, charge, or receive any money or other consideration or thing of value in
connection with the relinquishment and adoption, except attorney fees and such
other charges and fees as may be approved by the court.

(b) No person, other than an adoption exchange whose membership includes
county departments and child placement agencies, a licensed child placement
agency, or a county department, shall offer, give, charge, or receive any money or
other consideration or thing of value in connection with locating or identifying for
purposes of adoption any child, natural parent, expectant natural parent, or
prospective adoptive parent; except that physicians and attorneys may charge
reasonable fees for professional services customarily performed by such persons.

(c) A child who is placed by a county department in a foster care home
operated by a child placement agency shall be deemed, for purposes of payment to
the child placement agency, to remain in foster care status for purposes of
payment of consideration to the child placement agency until the date that the final
decree of adoption is entered or until the date that the child is returned to his or her
biological parent's home, unless otherwise negotiated in the contract between the
child placement agency and the county department.

(2) Any person who violates the provisions of this section commits a class 2
misdemeanor.

Legislative History

Source: L. 87: Entire title R&RE, p. 811, � 1, effective October 1. L. 2005: (1) amended, p. 970, � 4, effective June 2. L. 2021: (2) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3221, � 391, effective March 1, 2022.