Tennessee Code 36-1-104 – Withholding of material information concerning the status of the parents or guardian of a child subject to surrender, termination of parental rights or adoption – Misdemeanor
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
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Attorney's Note
Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| class A misdemeanor | up to 11 months | up to $2,500 |
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-1-104
- Adoption: means the social and legal process of establishing by court order, other than by paternity or legitimation proceedings or by voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the legal relationship of parent and child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- court: includes the juvenile court for purposes of the authority to accept the surrender or revocation of surrenders of a child and to issue any orders of reference, orders of guardianship, or other orders resulting from a surrender or revocation that it accepts and for purposes of authorizing the termination of parental rights pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Department: means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Guardian: means a person or entity appointed by a court to provide care, custody, control, supervision, and protection for a child, and authorized by the court to adopt or consent to the adoption of the child as a result of a surrender, parental consent, or termination of parental rights. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Legal parent: means :
(i) The biological mother of a child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102 - Licensed child-placing agency: means any agency operating under a license to place children for adoption issued by the department, or operating under a license from any governmental authority from any other state or territory or the District of Columbia, or any agency that operates under the authority of another country with the right to make placement of children for adoption and that has, in the department's sole determination, been authorized to place children for adoption in this state. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Licensed clinical social worker: means an individual who holds a license as an independent practitioner from the board of social worker certification and licensure pursuant to title 63, chapter 23, and, in addition, is licensed by the department to provide adoption placement services. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Parental rights: means the legally recognized rights and responsibilities to act as a parent, to care for, to name, and to claim custodial rights with respect to a child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- parents: means any biological, legal, adoptive parent or parents or, for purposes of §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Putative father: means a biological or alleged biological father of a child who, at the time of the filing of the petition to terminate the parental rights of such person, or if no such petition is filed, at the time of the filing of a petition to adopt a child, meets at least one (1) of the criteria set out in §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- Related: means grandparents or any degree of great-grandparents, aunts or uncles, or any degree of great-aunts or great-uncles, or stepparent, or cousins of the first degree, or first cousins once removed, or any siblings of the whole or half degree or any spouse of the above listed relatives. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
- Surrender: means a document executed under §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Any person who, upon request by any party to an adoption or the party’s agent or attorney, a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, the department, or the court, knowingly and willfully withholds any information related to the child who is the subject of a surrender, a termination of parental rights, or an adoption proceeding, or who knowingly and willfully withholds any material information concerning the identity, status, or whereabouts of the child’s legal parent or parents, putative father, or guardian or who knowingly and willfully gives false information concerning the child or the identity, status, or whereabouts of the child’s legal parent, putative father, or guardian commits a Class A misdemeanor. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a person or agency to disclose any confidential or privileged information protected by any state or federal law or regulation.