§ 15-7-8. Notice to parents - Notice when no parent living or when parent in mental institution. (a) The notice required in § 15-7-7 shall be as follows: If a parent does not consent in writing to the adoption of his or her child, the court shall order a copy of the petition and order that copy to be served on him or her, personally, if found in the state; and if not, notice of the petition for adoption shall be published once in any newspaper that the court directs. Like notice shall also be published whenever a child has no parent living.

(b) Whenever a parent is confined in any asylum, hospital, or institution for mental illness, whether the asylum, hospital, or institution is situated within or out of the state, the court shall order a copy of the petition and order that copy, subsequently referred to as the notice, to be served on him or her personally, which notice, if to be served within the state, shall be served by an officer authorized by law to serve citations; but if the notice is to be served out of the state, it may be served by any disinterested person, who shall make return, upon oath, that he or she has made service of the notice, the manner in which, the time when, and the place where the service was made; provided, that before any officer or disinterested person makes service of the notice, he or she shall apply to the physician in charge of the asylum, hospital, or institution where the person upon whom the notice to be served is confined, and if the physician shall return, upon oath, on the back of the notice, that in his or her opinion service of the notice upon the person will be injurious to his or her mental health, the officer or person charged with the service shall leave a copy of the notice, with the physician's return, with the keeper of the asylum, hospital, or institution and shall return the notice, with a statement of his or her actions regarding the notice, to the court without further service; and upon return being made in either case, the court, having first appointed a guardian ad litem for the parent, may proceed to act upon the petition and order.

History of Section. (G.L. 1896, ch. 192, § 4; G.L. 1909, ch. 244, § 4; G.L. 1923, ch. 288, § 4; P.L. 1925, ch. 655, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 420, § 4; G.L. 1938, ch. 420, § 5; P.L. 1955, ch. 3483, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 15-7-8; P.L. 1962, ch. 106, § 1; P.L. 1963, ch. 92, § 1; P.L. 1970, ch. 132, § 1; P.L. 1996, ch. 200, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 6, § 29.)