| TO: | Honorable Harold V. Dutton, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1795 by Wohlgemuth (Relating to the creation and dissolution of a covenant marriage.), As Introduced |
The bill would authorize the creation of covenant marriages, as well as provide for grounds for dissolution of a covenant marriage. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) would be required to develop pamphlets on covenant marriages to educate the public and materials to educate county clerks on the requirements for issuing a covenant marriage license. The county clerk would assess a fee of $12.50 for a covenant marriage license and $12.50 for an affidavit of intent to designate a marriage as a covenant marriage. The bill would take effect September 1, 2003.
An analysis by the OAG indicated that the agency could absorb costs within existing resources.
A sampling of county clerks responding to an inquiry about the fiscal impact of the provisions of the bill indicated the fiscal impact would not be significant, although two counties stated there would be initial costs for software revisions to add the new type of license and application to the computer system. The fiscal impact would vary by county depending on the number of applications filed.
No significant fiscal impact to units of local government is anticipated.
| Source Agencies: | 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 302 Office of the Attorney General
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| LBB Staff: | JK, GO, DLBa, AJ
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