600A.5 Petition for termination — venue — safety or security concerns.
1. The following persons may petition a juvenile court for termination of parental rights under this chapter if the child of the parent-child relationship is born or expected to be born within one hundred eighty days of the date of petition filing:
a. A parent or prospective parent of the parent-child relationship.
b. A custodian or guardian of the child.
2. A petition for termination of parental rights shall be filed, and venue shall lie, with the juvenile court in the county in which the guardian or custodian of the child resides or the child, the biological mother, or the pregnant woman is domiciled. If a juvenile court has made an order pertaining to a minor child under chapter 232, subchapter III, and that order is still in force, the termination proceedings shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of chapter 232, subchapter IV.
3. A petition for termination of parental rights shall include the following:
a. The legal name, age, and domicile, if any, of the child.
b. The names, residences, and domicile of any:
(1) Living parents of the child.
(2) Guardian of the child.
(3) Custodian of the child.
(4) Guardian ad litem of the child.
(5) Petitioner.
(6) Person standing in the place of the parents of the child.
c. A plain statement of the facts and grounds in section 600A.8 which indicate that the parent-child relationship should be terminated.
d. A plain statement explaining why the petitioner does not know any of the information required under paragraphs “a” and “b” of this subsection.
e. The signature and verification of the petitioner.
4. If the petitioner alleges and affirms in the verified petition that the petitioner has a legitimate concern for the safety or security of the child or petitioner, all of the following shall apply:
a. Notwithstanding subsection 2, the petitioner may file the petition in a county within the same judicial district but other than those counties specified, and venue shall be in the county in which the petition is filed.
b. The court shall keep confidential the residence and domicile of the child and the petitioner disclosed in the petition.
[C66, 71, 73, 75, §232.42, 232.43; C77, 79, 81, §600A.5]
94 Acts, ch 1046, §20; 95 Acts, ch 49, §21; 95 Acts, ch 182, §25; 2017 Acts, ch 87, §1; 2020 Acts, ch 1062, §94
Referred to in §600A.4, 600A.6, 600A.8
Code editor directive applied