§ 19-11-9.Putative father registry; location of absent parents by department; assistance of other governmental agencies; use of information obtained

Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 1. Child Support Recovery Act · Last amended 2010 · Last verified October 9, 2026

In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 19-11-9 directs Georgia’s Department of Human Services to locate absent parents with help from other agencies and tax records, and creates the putative father registry that gives unmarried biological fathers notice of adoption and termination cases.

Full Text of § 19-11-9

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

(a) The department shall attempt to locate absent parents.

(b) The department is to serve as a registry for the receipt of information which directly relates to the identity or location of absent parents, to assist any governmental agency or department in locating an absent parent, to answer interstate inquiries concerning deserting parents, to coordinate and supervise any activity on a state level in search for an absent parent, and to develop guidelines for coordinating activities of any governmental department, board, commission, bureau, or agency in providing information necessary for location of absent parents and is to process all requests received from an initiating county or an initiating state which has adopted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act or a law substantially similar to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act.

(c) In order to carry out the responsibilities imposed under this article, the department may request information and assistance from any governmental department, board, commission, bureau, or agency in locating the absent parents of children for whom the department has assignment of child support rights. The commissioner of human services or his duly authorized representative shall be entitled to have access to all pertinent information which is within the custody of any governmental department, board, commission, bureau, or agency, including, but not limited to, income tax information contained in any report or return required under Articles 1 through 6 of Chapter 7 of Title 48 by the Department of Revenue, including information from federal income tax returns required to be included as a part of any state report or return, which information but for this Code section would not be subject to disclosure pursuant to Code Section 48-7-60 and which is relative to such parents' location, income, or property, provided that any tax information secured from the federal government by the Department of Revenue, pursuant to the express provisions of Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, may not be disclosed by that department pursuant to this subsection. Any person receiving any tax information or tax returns under the authority granted in this subsection shall be considered either an officer or employee as those terms are used in subsection (a) of Code Section 48-7-60; and, as such an officer or employee, any person receiving any tax information or returns under the authority of this Code section shall be subject to Code Section 48-7-61, relating to the sanctions to be imposed for the unauthorized disclosure of confidential material.

(d)

(1) There is established within the department a putative father registry. For purposes of this subsection, “biological father” and “legal father” shall have the meanings set out in Code Section 19-8-1. The putative father registry shall record the name, address, and social security number of any person who claims to be the biological father but not the legal father of a child, and the date of entry of such information. Placement on the putative father registry shall not be used as an admission of guilt to any crime under Georgia law or used as evidence in any criminal prosecution under Georgia law.

(2) The putative father registry shall include two types of registrations:

(A) Persons who acknowledge paternity of a child or children before or after birth in a signed writing; and

(B) Persons who register to indicate the possibility of paternity without acknowledging paternity.

(3) Registrants shall be informed that this registration may be used to establish an obligation to support the child or children and that this registration shall be used to provide notice of adoption proceedings or proceedings to terminate the rights of a biological father who is not a legal father but that registration without further action does not enable the registrant to prevent an adoption or termination of his rights by objecting. All registrants shall be asked to provide information regarding changes in their addresses.

(4) A voluntary acknowledgment of paternity may be rescinded pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 19-7-46.1.

(5) The department shall publicize the existence and availability of the putative father registry to the public, including but not limited to providing information disseminated in connection with certificates of live birth and through county boards of health. The department is authorized to prescribe the notices, forms, and educational materials to be used for entities that may offer voluntary paternity establishment services.

(6) The department shall keep the putative father registry as current as feasible, adding entries or information to the registry often enough that new registrations or new information regarding registrants, mothers, or children shall be added to the registry no later than two business days following receipt of the information from the registrant.

(e) The information which is obtained by the department shall only be available to:

(1) A governmental department, board, commission, bureau, agency, or political subdivision of any state for purposes of locating an absent parent or putative father to establish or to enforce his obligation of support, of enforcing a child custody determination, or of enforcing any state or federal law with respect to the unlawful taking or restraint of a child; or

(2) The department, a licensed child-placing agency, or a member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia in response to a request for information for purposes of locating a biological father who is not the legal father to provide notice of adoption proceedings or a proceeding to terminate the rights of a biological father who is not a legal father. The request for information shall include, to the extent the information is known to the department, agency, or attorney, the name, address, and social security number of the mother of the child and of the alleged biological father who is not the legal father of the child and the child's name, sex, and date of birth. The department shall within two business days of its receipt of such a request for information issue a written certificate documenting its response.

(f) The department shall charge a fee of $10.00 for each certification regarding entries on the putative father registry or other information provided pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of this Code section. The department shall waive the fee provided for in this subsection upon presentation of an affidavit of the petitioner's indigency. The department shall transmit the fees received pursuant to this subsection to the Office of the State Treasurer for deposit in the treasury of the state and shall provide an annual accounting of such fees to the Governor and the General Assembly.

End

Plain-English Summary

This section does two jobs. The first is finding absent parents. Subsection (a) says the Department of Human Services shall attempt to locate them, and subsection (b) makes the department a registry for information about their identity or location. The department assists other agencies, answers interstate inquiries, coordinates state-level searches, and processes requests from counties and from states that have adopted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act or the older reciprocal-support acts. Under subsection (c), the department may ask any government agency for help in locating the absent parents of children whose support rights have been assigned to it, and the commissioner or a representative may see pertinent records — including state income tax information held by the Department of Revenue — about a parent’s location, income or property. Tax information the Department of Revenue received from the federal government under the Internal Revenue Code is excluded. Anyone receiving tax information this way is bound by the confidentiality rules and sanctions in Code Sections 48-7-60 and 48-7-61.

The second job is the putative father registry in subsection (d). It records the name, address and Social Security number of any man who claims to be a child’s biological father but not its legal father, as those terms are defined in § 19-8-1, along with the date of entry. Registering isn’t an admission of guilt to any crime and can’t be used as evidence in a Georgia criminal prosecution. There are two kinds of registration: acknowledging paternity in a signed writing, before or after birth, or registering only the possibility of paternity. Registrants must be told that registration may be used to establish a support duty and will be used to give them notice of adoption or termination proceedings — but that registering alone doesn’t let them block an adoption or termination by objecting. A voluntary acknowledgment can be rescinded under § 19-7-46.1. The department must publicize the registry and add new information no later than two business days after receiving it.

Subsection (e) limits who can get registry and location information: government agencies seeking to establish or enforce support, enforce a custody determination, or enforce laws against unlawfully taking or restraining a child; and the department, licensed child-placing agencies and Georgia lawyers in good standing who need to find a biological father to give notice of an adoption or termination. The department must issue a written certificate within two business days of such a request. Subsection (f) sets a $10.00 fee for each certification, waived on an affidavit of indigency. The section was last amended in 2010.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Georgia putative father registry?

It’s a registry within the Department of Human Services that records the name, address and Social Security number of any man who claims to be a child’s biological father but not its legal father, plus the date he registered. A man can register by acknowledging paternity in a signed writing or by indicating only the possibility of paternity. Registration is used to give notice of adoption and termination proceedings.

Does signing up for the putative father registry let me stop an adoption in Georgia?

Not by itself. Registrants must be told that registration will be used to give them notice of adoption proceedings or proceedings to terminate a biological father’s rights, but that registration without further action does not let them prevent an adoption or termination by objecting. Section 19-8-12 sets out what notice a registrant gets and what he must do to protect his rights.

Can registering as a putative father be used against me in a criminal case?

No. Placement on the putative father registry shall not be used as an admission of guilt to any crime under Georgia law or as evidence in any criminal prosecution under Georgia law. Registration can, however, be used to establish a duty to support the child, and registrants are told so when they register.

How do I get a putative father registry search in Georgia for an adoption?

The department, a licensed child-placing agency or a Georgia lawyer in good standing can request information to locate a biological father who isn’t the legal father, so he can be notified of an adoption or termination. The request must include, to the extent known, the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of the mother and alleged father, and the child’s name, sex and birth date. The department issues a written certificate within two business days. The fee is $10.00, waived on an affidavit of indigency.

How does the state find a parent who won’t pay child support?

The Department of Human Services shall attempt to locate absent parents. For children whose support rights have been assigned to the department, it can request information and help from any government agency, and the commissioner or a representative may see pertinent records — including state income tax information — about a parent’s location, income or property. Tax information the Department of Revenue obtained from the federal government is excluded, and anyone receiving tax information must keep it confidential under Code Sections 48-7-60 and 48-7-61.

Amendment History

Laws 1973, p. 192, § 8; Laws 1976, p. 1537, § 7; Laws 1977, p. 1279, § 1; Laws 1982, p. 1105, §§ 1, 2; Laws 1987, p. 191, § 9; Laws 1992, p. 1266, § 2; Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 24; Laws 1997, p. 1686, § 8; Laws 2009, Act 102, § 2-4, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2010, Act 621, § 2, eff. July 1, 2010.

Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, enacted by the Georgia General Assembly, and checked word for word against the Georgia Code Revision Commission’s public-domain edition and the acts that later amended it. Section headings are the Code’s official catchlines. Last verified October 9, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: georgia putative father registryputative father registry search georgialocate absent parent georgiaunmarried father adoption notice georgiaacknowledge paternity registry georgia