Nevada Adoption Records: The 2025 Law Change and the Adoption Reunion Registry

Nevada rewrote its adoption law in 2025, moving it out of the old Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 127 and into a series of new chapters that begin at NRS 127A. The rules that govern adoption records survived that move, and both of them are on the books today. An adoptee's original birth certificate is sealed when the adoption is recorded and can be opened only by court order under NRS 440.310, and the court's own adoption file is closed to inspection except in the narrow situations listed in NRS 127A.230.

Nevada is therefore a court-order state for original birth certificates. What the state does offer without a court order is the Adoption Reunion Registry, run by the Division of Child and Family Services, and the release of non-identifying information from the adoption file.

Information last verified on 2026-09-02. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This page is part of RecordingLaw's guide to adoption records by state. For the general rules other states use, see how to get your original birth certificate and adoption reunion registries.

Nevada Rewrote Its Adoption Law in 2025

The Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 227 in 2025, enacted as Chapter 239, Statutes of Nevada 2025. It moved Nevada's adoption statutes out of Chapter 127 and into a series of new chapters beginning at NRS 127A, with the substantive provisions taking effect October 1, 2025. The old State Register for Adoptions statute, NRS 127.007, was repealed as part of that overhaul. The official Nevada Revised Statutes site now marks it: "Repealed. (See chapter 239, Statutes of Nevada 2025, at page 1567.)"

The chapter to know for records access is 127A, not one of the adoption-type chapters. NRS 127A.150 makes NRS 127A.160 to 127A.430 apply across the board: to placements with agencies that provide child welfare services under Chapter 127B, to agency, identified and adult adoptions under Chapter 127C, to close-family adoptions under Chapter 127D, and to confirmatory adoptions and readoptions under Chapter 127E. Both provisions that answer a records question, the registry at NRS 127A.160 and the confidentiality rule at NRS 127A.230, sit in Chapter 127A and were added to NRS by the 2025 act. Older summaries describing Nevada's rules under the repealed Chapter 127 are describing law that is no longer in force.

Your Original Birth Certificate Is Sealed

NRS 440.310 is the controlling rule, and the 2025 act amended it rather than replacing it. Under subsection 1, when the State Registrar receives a certified report of adoption, or a certified copy of the adoption decree, for a person born in Nevada, the Registrar prepares and files a supplementary certificate of birth in the adopted person's new name showing the adoptive parents as the parents, then seals and files the report or decree together with the original certificate of birth.

Subsection 4 sets out the only way back in: "Sealed documents may be opened only upon an order of the court issuing the adoption decree, expressly so permitting, pursuant to a petition setting forth the reasons therefor."

There is no age-based or application-based route to the original certificate in Nevada. An adult adoptee who wants it files a petition in the court that issued the decree and asks that court to order the seal opened. The statute does not spell out a standard for granting the petition, which leaves that judgment with the court.

The Adoption Court File

NRS 127A.230 governs the court's own file. Adoption hearings are confidential and must be held in closed court. Under subsection 2, the files and records of the court in adoption proceedings are not open to inspection by any person except:

• upon an order of the court expressly permitting it, pursuant to a petition setting forth the reasons;
• if a parent and the child are eligible to receive information from the State Register for Adoptions under NRS 127A.160; or
• as provided in subsections 3 to 6.

Those remaining exceptions are narrow and specific. An adoptive parent or a parent who intends to file a petition about an agreement for postadoptive contact may inspect only the portions of the file concerning that agreement. A sibling or adoptive child who wants to enforce, modify or terminate a visitation order included in an order of adoption can get the case number and inspect only the portions concerning the visitation order. In each of those situations, subsection 6 requires that anything made available leave out confidential information, including anything that identifies or would lead to identifying a parent whose identity is not already in the agreement or order.

The Nevada Adoption Reunion Registry

Nevada's Adoption Reunion Registry, administered by the Division of Child and Family Services, now rests on NRS 127A.160. It is voluntary at both ends. A parent who relinquished a child, consented to an adoption, or had parental rights terminated may submit their information, as may an adopted person who is 18 or older and a relative within the third degree of consanguinity. Anyone whose name appears in the Register may withdraw it by asking in writing, and the Division must withdraw it immediately and may not afterward release any information identifying that person, including the fact that the name was ever in the Register.

Being registered on both sides is necessary, but it is not the whole test. NRS 127A.160(4) allows the Division to release information only if both people's names and information are in the Register and written consent for the release is given by the parent, or the Division determines that extenuating circumstances exist to justify the release. An adopted person can narrow things further under subsection 5 by submitting a written request restricting release to one or more categories of relatives within the third degree of consanguinity.

The statute itself does not confine the Register to Nevada adoptions. It reaches parents whose rights were terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction, and adopted people 18 or older, with no requirement in the text that the adoption was finalized in Nevada. The Division's own program materials describe the registry more narrowly, as being for adoptees whose adoption was finalized in Nevada and birth parents whose rights were terminated by Nevada courts. Those are program eligibility descriptions rather than limits written into the statute, so it is worth asking the registry coordinator directly if your adoption was finalized in another state. The same distinction applies to process and timing. Registration is free and applications must be notarized, and the Division commits to sending written confirmation within 30 days of receipt and answering a non-identifying-information request within 60 days. Those are published service commitments in program materials, not deadlines in the statute.

Non-Identifying Information

Through the same program, general non-identifying information from the adoption file can be released to an adoptee, or to an adoptive parent while the adoptee is still a minor, and the Division states that an adoptee does not need to register in order to request it. According to the Division's adoption program materials, this can include a birth parent's physical description, marital status, ethnicity, education, occupation, religion, and health at the time of the adoption, along with the time, place, and hospital of birth, birth weight and length, and information about siblings at the time of birth.

Who to Contact

For the reunion registry or a non-identifying-information request, contact the Division's Adoption Reunion Registry Coordinator at DCFSReunionRegistry@dcfs.nv.gov or (775) 684-7294. Notarized applications can be submitted as PDF files.

For the original birth certificate or the sealed court file, the route runs through the district court that issued the adoption decree. NRS 440.310(4) and NRS 127A.230(2)(a) both place that decision with the court rather than with an agency. The Nevada Office of Vital Records can tell you what it holds and issue the supplementary certificate, but it cannot unseal the original without a court order.

Related Nevada Records

See also Nevada court records, Nevada death records, and Nevada marriage and divorce records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Nevada's adoption records law as it stands after the state's 2025 recodification, verified against the official Nevada Revised Statutes text in September 2026. It is not legal advice. Opening a sealed original birth certificate or adoption file is a court proceeding, and a licensed Nevada attorney can advise you on how to bring the petition.

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Last updated: 2026-09-02. NRS 440.310, NRS 127A.230 and NRS 127A.160 verified against the official Nevada Revised Statutes text. Registry process and timing details reflect the Division of Child and Family Services program page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get my original birth certificate if I was adopted in Nevada?

Only by court order. NRS 440.310 requires the State Registrar to seal the original certificate when an adoption is recorded, and subsection 4 provides that sealed documents may be opened only upon an order of the court that issued the adoption decree, pursuant to a petition setting forth the reasons. Nevada has no age-based or application-based release for adult adoptees.

How do I unseal a Nevada adoption court file?

Under NRS 127A.230(2), adoption files and records of the court are closed to inspection unless the court orders otherwise on a petition setting forth your reasons, or you fall within a listed exception, such as eligibility to receive information through the State Register for Adoptions or the narrow postadoptive-contact and sibling-visitation provisions. The petition goes to the court that handled the adoption.

Is Nevada's Adoption Reunion Registry still active?

Yes. It is run by the Division of Child and Family Services, it is free, and it now rests on NRS 127A.160. Registration by both people is not by itself enough for a release: the statute also requires written consent from the parent or a Division finding that extenuating circumstances exist.

Who can register with Nevada's Adoption Reunion Registry?

Under NRS 127A.160(2), parents who relinquished a child, consented to an adoption, or had parental rights terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction; adopted people 18 or older; and relatives within the third degree of consanguinity. The Division's program materials describe eligibility more narrowly, as Nevada adoptions and Nevada court terminations, so ask the registry coordinator if your adoption was finalized in another state.

What non-identifying information can Nevada release about my adoption?

General information such as a birth parent's physical description, ethnicity, education, occupation, religion, and health at the time of adoption, along with birth details, can be released to an adoptee or to an adoptive parent while the adoptee is a minor. The Division says an adoptee does not need to register in order to request it.

Did the 2025 rewrite change Nevada's records rules?

It moved them. The confidentiality rule is now NRS 127A.230 and the State Register for Adoptions is now NRS 127A.160, both added to NRS by the 2025 act, and NRS 440.310 was amended to cross-reference the new chapters. The sealed-record and court-order framework itself carried over.