87R14478 MLH-D

By: Moody H.B. No. 451

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to persons authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 2.202(a) and (b), Family Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The following persons are authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony:

(1) a licensed or ordained Christian minister or priest;

(2) a Jewish rabbi;

(3) a person who is an officer of a religious organization and who is authorized by the organization to conduct a marriage ceremony; and

(4) a current, former, or retired federal judge or state judge [justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of criminal appeals, justice of the courts of appeals, judge of the district, county, and probate courts, judge of the county courts at law, judge of the courts of domestic relations, judge of the juvenile courts, retired justice or judge of those courts, justice of the peace, retired justice of the peace, judge of a municipal court, retired judge of a municipal court, associate judge of a statutory probate court, retired associate judge of a statutory probate court, associate judge of a county court at law, retired associate judge of a county court at law, or judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state; and

[(5) a retired judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state].

(b) For the purposes of Subsection (a)(4), "federal judge" and "state judge" have the meanings assigned by Section 25.025, Tax Code [a retired judge or justice is a former judge or justice who is vested in the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan One or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan Two or who has an aggregate of at least 12 years of service as judge or justice of any type listed in Subsection (a)(4)].

SECTION 2. Section 2.202(b-1), Family Code, is repealed.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.