Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-500 Page: 3 of 9
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The Honorable Toby Goodman - Page 3
(2) "Public media" has the meaning assigned by Section 38.01.5 The
term also includes communications through the use of the Internet or
another public computer network.6
You first ask whether section 25.09, Penal Code, prohibits a parent from advertising to place
his or her child for adoption. On its face, section 25.09 applies to any person who advertises to
place, provide, or obtain a child for adoption. We think that the words "place" or "provide" a child
for adoption plainly include placing or providing one's own child for adoption. Section 25.09 has
only one express exception from its application: a licensed child-placing agency. An express
exception to a statute manifests a legislative intent that the statute should apply in all cases not
excepted.' We conclude, therefore, that section 25.09 prohibits a parent from advertising to place
his or her child for adoption.
You next ask whether section 25.09, Penal Code, prohibits a prospective adoptive parent
from advertising that he or she wishes to adopt a child. Section 25.09 prohibits a person, other than
a licensed child-placing agency, from advertising that the person "will place a child for adoption or
will provide or obtain a child for adoption." The phrase "will . . . obtain a child for adoption" could
plausibly be read to refer to a person who seeks to adopt a child. Parts of the statute's legislative
history indicate that such a reading was intended. During a hearing on House Bill 1091 before the
House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues, a witness asked you, as the bill's sponsor,
whether the provision would prohibit prospective adoptive parents from advertising that they wished
to adopt a child.' You stated repeatedly that the provision was intended to do so. You made
reference to the committee's interim report, the impetus for House Bill 1091, which recommended
legislation that would ban "baby wanted" advertising.9
On the other hand, the phrase "will. . . obtain a child for adoption" could also be read to refer
to the act of acquiring a child for someone else to adopt. Other parts of the legislative history
support this construction. The Juvenile Justice Committee's report on House Bill 1091 states: "The
bill amends Penal Code Chapter 25, stating that a person commits an offense by advertising in the
'Section 38.01, Penal Code, defines "public media" as "a telephone directory or legal directory, newspaper or
other periodical, billboard or other sign, radio or television broadcast, recorded message the public may access by
dialing a telephone number, or a written communication not prohibited by Section 38.12(d) [prohibiting barratry],"
6Penal Code 25.09 (footnotes added).
7See Garcia v. State, 829 S.W.2d 796, 798-99 (Tex. Crime. App. 1992); State v. Richards, 301 S.W.2d 597, 600
(Tex. 1957).
SHearings on H.B. 1091 Before the House Comm. on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues, 75th Leg.
(Mar. 26, 1997) (audio tape available from House Video/Audio Services).
9House Comm. on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues, Interim Report to the 75th Texas Legislature (Dec. 1996)
at 8.p. 2866
(DM-500)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-500, text, December 29, 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274309/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.