Senate Bill No. 199
(By Senators Love, Schoonover, Dugan and White)
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[Introduced January 22, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article four, chapter forty-eight of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seventeen, relating to providing that biological
grandparents, if financially capable of providing a safe,
secure and comfortable home, have first right of adoption;
and requiring that circuit courts make every reasonable
effort to keep children with their biological families, if
such is consistent with the best interests of the child or
children.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter forty-eight of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section seventeen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. ADOPTION.
§48-4-17. First right of adoption in biological grandparent.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, a biological grandparent has the first right of
adoption if he or she has the financial capacity to provide a
safe, secure and comfortable home for the grandchild or
grandchildren. Circuit courts of this state shall make every
reasonable effort to insure that children remain with their
biological families, if possible, and if consistent with the best
interests of the child or children affected.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that
biological grandparents have the first right of adoption, if they
are financially capable of providing a safe, secure and
comfortable home. This bill would also require that circuit
courts make every reasonable effort to keep children with their
biological families.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.