---
type: "Bill"
title: "Adoption Law Changes."
description: "Adoption Law Changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2011"
identifier: "HB 637"
citation: "North Carolina HB 637 (2011)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ADOPTION", "GUARDIANSHIP", "INCOMPETENTS", "MARRIAGE & FAMILY", "MENTAL HEALTH", "MINORS", "PRESENTED", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED", "SOCIAL SERVICES", "CHAPTERED", "REP. JORDAN"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jordan"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2011-04-05"
last_action: "2012-06-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/980fca37-d274-40de-a7bc-ec2c8f58ec99"
source_url: "http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=H637&votesToView=all"
source_hash: "a9f06b99486ccbfcef0550ae39d45b890aad3ec797c99ab6f16ba473e0faae2d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nc"]
---

# North Carolina HB 637 (2011) — Adoption Law Changes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H637v0.pdf)
2. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H637v1.pdf)
3. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H637v2.pdf)
4. **Edition 3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H637v3.pdf)
5. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H637v4.pdf)
6. **SL2012-16** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H637v5.pdf)

## Votes

- Second Reading — **48–0** (pass) · upper
- M11 Concur — **114–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jordan — primary (person)
- Stevens — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2012-06-11** Ch. SL 2012-16 `became-law`
- **2012-06-11** Signed By Gov. 6/11/2012 `executive-signature`
- **2012-06-08** Pres. To Gov. 6/8/2012 `executive-receipt`
- **2012-06-07** Ratified
- **2012-06-06** Concurred In S/Com Sub `amendment-passage`
- **2012-06-05** Postponed To 6/6/2012
- **2012-06-04** Placed On Cal For 6/5/2012
- **2012-06-04** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2012-06-04** Rec To Concur S Com Sub
- **2012-05-31** Rec From Senate
- **2012-05-30** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2012-05-29** Com Substitute Adopted
- **2012-05-29** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-26** Ref To Com On Judiciary II `referral-committee`
- **2011-04-26** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2011-04-25** Rec From House
- **2011-04-21** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2011-04-20** Placed On Cal For 4/21/2011
- **2011-04-20** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2011-04-20** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-06** Ref To Com On Judiciary Subcommittee C `referral-committee`
- **2011-04-06** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2011-04-05** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/980fca37-d274-40de-a7bc-ec2c8f58ec99`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).