1-1 By: Denny (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 2069
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 1997;
1-3 May 13, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 18, 1997, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to certain information provided in an application for a
1-9 marriage license.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 2.004(b), Family Code, as added by S.B.
1-12 No. 334, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 (b) The application form must contain:
1-15 (1) a heading entitled "Application for Marriage
1-16 License, ____________ County, Texas";
1-17 (2) spaces for each applicant's full name, including
1-18 the woman's maiden surname, address, social security number, if
1-19 any, date of birth, and place of birth, including city, county, and
1-20 state;
1-21 (3) a space for indicating the document tendered by
1-22 each applicant as proof of identity and age;
1-23 (4) spaces for indicating whether each applicant has
1-24 been divorced within the last 30 days;
1-25 (5) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
1-26 or "false" in response to the following statement: "I am not
1-27 presently married.";
1-28 (6) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
1-29 or "false" in response to the following statement: "The other
1-30 applicant is not related to me as:
1-31 (A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
1-32 adoption;
1-33 (B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
1-34 blood or by adoption;
1-35 (C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole
1-36 or half blood or by adoption; or
1-37 (D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
1-38 the whole or half blood or by adoption.";
1-39 (7) printed boxes for each applicant to check "true"
1-40 or "false" in response to the following statement: "I am not
1-41 presently delinquent in the payment of court-ordered child
1-42 support.";
1-43 (8) a printed oath reading: "I SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR
1-44 AFFIRM) THAT THE INFORMATION I HAVE GIVEN IN THIS APPLICATION IS
1-45 CORRECT.";
1-46 (9) [(8)] spaces immediately below the printed oath
1-47 for the applicants' signatures;
1-48 (10) [(9)] a certificate of the county clerk that:
1-49 (A) each applicant made the oath and the date
1-50 and place that it was made; or
1-51 (B) an applicant did not appear personally but
1-52 the prerequisites for the license have been fulfilled as provided
1-53 by this chapter;
1-54 (11) [(10)] spaces for indicating the date of the
1-55 marriage and the county in which the marriage is performed; and
1-56 (12) [(11)] a space for the address to which the
1-57 applicants desire the completed license to be mailed.
1-58 SECTION 2. Section 2.009, Family Code, as added by S.B.
1-59 334, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
1-60 amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to
1-61 read as follows:
1-62 (a) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and
1-63 (d), the county clerk may not issue a license if either applicant:
1-64 (1) fails to provide the information required by this
2-1 subchapter;
2-2 (2) fails to submit proof of age and identity;
2-3 (3) is under 14 years of age and has not been granted
2-4 a court order as provided by Section 2.103;
2-5 (4) is 14 years of age or older but under 18 years of
2-6 age and has not presented at least one of the following:
2-7 (A) parental consent as provided by Section
2-8 2.102;
2-9 (B) documents establishing that a prior marriage
2-10 of the applicant has been dissolved; or
2-11 (C) a court order as provided by Section 2.103;
2-12 (5) checks "false" in response to a statement in the
2-13 application, except as provided by Subsection (b) or (d), or fails
2-14 to make a required declaration in an affidavit required of an
2-15 absent applicant; or
2-16 (6) indicates that the applicant has been divorced by
2-17 a decree of a court of this state within the last 30 days, unless:
2-18 (A) the applicants were divorced from each
2-19 other; or
2-20 (B) the prohibition against remarriage is waived
2-21 as provided by Section 6.802.
2-22 (d) The county clerk may not refuse to issue a license to
2-23 an applicant on the ground that the applicant checked "false" in
2-24 response to the statement "I am not presently delinquent in the
2-25 payment of court-ordered child support."
2-26 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-27 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-28 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-29 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-30 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-31 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-32 * * * * *