republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/98th/hb-4636.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "ADOPTION ACT-RELATIVE OF CHILD"
description: "Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Provides that \"related\" includes relationships by civil union and adds stepgrandparents and second cousins to the list of relatives included in the definition. Provides that a person is related to a child as a first cousin or a second cousin if they are both related to the same ancestor as either grandchild or great-grandchild. Provides that a child whose parent has executed a consent, a surrender, or a waiver under the Adoption Act or whose parent has had his or her parental rights terminated is not a related child to that person, unless certain exceptions apply. Amends the Adoption Act. Changes the definition of \"related child\" and \"parent\" and defines \"legal father\", and \"legal mother\". Provides that the terms \"biological parent\", \"birth parent\", and \"natural parent\" are interchangeable terms that mean a person who is biologically or genetically related to that child as a parent. Provides that certain residence requirements do not apply if the child to be adopted has resided in this State for a period of 6 months immediately preceding the commencement of the adoption proceeding or since birth if the child is not yet 6 months of age. Replaces the provisions of a Section concerning jurisdiction and venue with provisions stating that an adoption proceeding may be commenced in any county in this State."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "98th"
identifier: "HB 4636"
citation: "Illinois HB 4636 (98th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 46
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2014-02-04"
last_action: "2014-08-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/13280620-a49d-4929-92d1-c17f58b7feb4"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=4636&GAID=12&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=79244&SessionID=85&GA=98"
source_hash: "a97314eba4fe379117fb2b53cfa116de53dd35f2a4b03e66a9961108ef628eea"
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-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 4636 (98th) — ADOPTION ACT-RELATIVE OF CHILD

Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Provides that "related" includes relationships by civil union and adds stepgrandparents and second cousins to the list of relatives included in the definition. Provides that a person is related to a child as a first cousin or a second cousin if they are both related to the same ancestor as either grandchild or great-grandchild. Provides that a child whose parent has executed a consent, a surrender, or a waiver under the Adoption Act or whose parent has had his or her parental rights terminated is not a related child to that person, unless certain exceptions apply. Amends the Adoption Act. Changes the definition of "related child" and "parent" and defines "legal father", and "legal mother". Provides that the terms "biological parent", "birth parent", and "natural parent" are interchangeable terms that mean a person who is biologically or genetically related to that child as a parent. Provides that certain residence requirements do not apply if the child to be adopted has resided in this State for a period of 6 months immediately preceding the commencement of the adoption proceeding or since birth if the child is not yet 6 months of age. Replaces the provisions of a Section concerning jurisdiction and venue with provisions stating that an adoption proceeding may be commenced in any county in this State.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4636&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=79244&DocNum=4636&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4636eng&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=79244&DocNum=4636&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB4636enr&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=79244&DocNum=4636&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **102–11** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **51–1** (pass) · upper
- Concurrence — **92–20** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Sara Feigenholtz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2014-02-04** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz `filing`
- **2014-02-04** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-02-04** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-03** Assigned to Adoption Reform `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-21** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz `amendment-introduction`
- **2014-03-21** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-03-24** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Adoption Reform
- **2014-03-26** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Adoption Reform; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2014-03-26** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Adoption Reform; 005-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-03-26** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-04-02** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz `amendment-introduction`
- **2014-04-02** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-07** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommends Be Adopted Rules Committee; 005-000-000 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2014-04-07** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2014-04-07** House Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2014-04-07** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-04-08** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 102-011-001 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-04-08** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2014-04-08** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading April 9, 2014 `reading-1`
- **2014-04-08** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Kwame Raoul
- **2014-04-09** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-04-09** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-23** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-29** Postponed - Judiciary
- **2014-05-05** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Kwame Raoul `amendment-introduction`
- **2014-05-05** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2014-05-06** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Judiciary
- **2014-05-06** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2014-05-07** Do Pass as Amended Judiciary; 009-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-05-07** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 8, 2014
- **2014-05-08** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2014-05-08** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 12, 2014
- **2014-05-19** Third Reading - Passed; 051-001-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-05-20** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2014-05-20** Placed on Calendar Order of Concurrence Senate Amendment(s) 1
- **2014-05-21** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion Filed Concur Rep. Sara Feigenholtz
- **2014-05-21** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-05-26** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Rules Referred to Adoption Reform `referral-committee`
- **2014-05-27** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Recommends Be Adopted Adoption Reform; 004-000-000
- **2014-05-28** Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 House Concurs 092-020-000
- **2014-05-28** House Concurs
- **2014-05-28** Passed Both Houses
- **2014-06-26** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2014-08-01** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2014-08-01** Effective Date January 1, 2015
- **2014-08-01** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0804 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/13280620-a49d-4929-92d1-c17f58b7feb4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).