HB15-1355: Heritage Act - Family History Access

• Creates "Heritage Act" to expand access to personal records related to family history, adoption, and genealogy for adoptees, former wards of state institutions, and their relatives.

• Allows adult adoptees and descendants to access original and amended birth certificates of adult siblings or half-siblings who share at least one common birth parent, without redaction.

• Establishes new category of "eligible parties" (former wards of state home for dependent and neglected children, their spouses, adult descendants, and adult siblings) with access to personal records including birth certificates, custody documents, relinquishment orders, adoption decrees, and genetic/medical/social information about birth parents.

• Excludes prerelinquishment counseling records from disclosure and requires proof of identification before records are released; allows custodians of records to charge reasonable copying fees.

• Takes effect upon passage and applies retroactively to all requests and applications for access to birth certificates and records made on or after the effective date.