Senate Bill 303 Summary

• Clarifies that clerks of superior court must retain original adoption petitions and final decrees while sending copies to the Division within 10 days after appeal periods expire.

• Removes restriction on filing briefs and memoranda with courts unless ordered by the court or submitted in relation to a motion or other request for relief.

• Establishes exclusive venue in Wake County for mandatory complex business cases and those assigned to business court judges, with trials held in the county of origin unless parties consent or the judge finds convenience warrants a change.

• Creates Safe Babies Court as an innovative program providing trauma-informed support and services to young families with children age 3 or younger involved in juvenile abuse, neglect, or dependency proceedings; designates Safe Babies Court records as non-public.

• Allows grandparents to intervene in juvenile proceedings when both parents are deceased, one parent is deceased with no other parent known, or one parent is deceased and the other's rights have been terminated.