Mississippi § 93-15-107 - Commencement of proceedings; parties; summons.

§ 93-15-107. Commencement of proceedings; parties; summons.

Involuntary termination of parental rights proceedings are commenced upon the filing of a petition under this chapter. The petition may be filed by any interested person, or any agency, institution or person holding custody of the child. The simultaneous filing of a petition for adoption is not a prerequisite for filing a petition under this chapter. The proceeding shall be triable, either in term time or vacation, thirty (30) days after personal service of process to any necessary party or, for a necessary party whose address is unknown after diligent search, thirty (30) days after the date of the first publication of service of process by publication that complies with the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. Necessary parties to a termination of parental rights action shall include the mother of the child, the legal father of the child, the putative father of the child when known, and any agency, institution or person holding custody of the child. The absence of a necessary party who has been properly served does not preclude the court from conducting the hearing or rendering a final judgment. A guardian ad litem shall be appointed to protect the best interest of the child, except that the court, in its discretion, may waive this requirement when a parent executes a written voluntary release to terminate parental rights. The guardian ad litem fees shall be determined and assessed in the discretion of the court. Voluntary termination of parental rights by written voluntary release is governed by Section 93-15-111. In all cases involving termination of parental rights, a minor parent shall be served with process as an adult. The court may waive service of process if an adoptive child was born in a foreign country, put up for adoption in the birth country, and has been legally admitted into this country.