BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3666

By: Kolkhorst

Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

State law is not up-to-date with the modern day experiences in issuance of a marriage license in a county clerk's office. Establishing proof of identity is an issue that must be addressed to respond to current day-to-day experiences in marriage license issuance.

H.B. 3666 specifies the forms of identification that are valid for establishing proof of identity and age for a marriage license application and prohibits a county clerk from issuing a marriage license to an applicant who has been divorced within the last 30 days.  The bill requires a parent or person who has legal authority to consent to marriage for an underage applicant who gives consent to provide proof of identity and proof of legal authority.  The bill addresses certificates of informal marriage.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission in SECTIONS 5, 6, and 11 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 3666 amends the Family Code to require a marriage license applicant's proof of identity and age to be established by a current state-issued driver's license or identification card, a current United States passport, a current passport issued by a foreign country with a valid entry stamp, or proof of identification and age accepted by the Department of Public Safety for issuance of an original driver's license, rather than by a certified copy of the applicant's birth certificate or by some certificate, license, or document issued by this state or another state, the United States, or a foreign government.  The bill requires a parent or person who has the legal authority to consent to marriage for an underage applicant who gives consent to provide proof of the parent's or person's identity in the form of one of the documents listed above, and proof that the parent or person has such legal authority under rules adopted by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).  The bill requires the executive commissioner to adopt rules detailing acceptable proof of the legal authority to consent to the marriage of an underage applicant.  The bill requires the executive commissioner, in adopting rules, to ensure that the rules adequately protect against fraud and do not create an undue burden on any class of person legally entitled to consent to the marriage of an underage applicant.

H.B. 3666 requires a person applying for a marriage license on behalf of an absent applicant to provide a county clerk with a notarized affidavit, rather than an affidavit, of the absent applicant, proof of identity and age in the form of one of the documents listed above, and if required because the absent applicant is a person under 18 years of age, documents establishing consent by a parent or a person who has legal authority to consent to the marriage, including proof of identity of the parent or person with such legal authority in the form of one of the documents listed above, and proof that such person has the legal authority to consent to the marriage for the applicant.

H.B. 3666 prohibits, with certain exceptions, a county clerk from issuing a marriage license if either applicant indicates that the applicant has been divorced within the last 30 days, rather than divorced by a decree of a Texas court within the last 30 days.

H.B. 3666 requires a county clerk to issue a certified copy of a recorded marriage license on request, rather than on the application and proof of identity of a person whose marriage is recorded in the records of the county clerk.  The bill requires a county clerk to issue a duplicate license if a license is lost, destroyed, or rendered useless and removes the requirement making issuance of a duplicate marriage license to whom a marriage license was issued but not recorded conditioned on the application and proof of identity of both persons and submission of affidavits.

H.B. 3666 requires both parties to a marriage, if one or both parties discover an error on the recorded marriage license, to execute a notarized affidavit stating the error.  The bill requires the county clerk to file and record the affidavit as an amendment to the marriage license, and the affidavit is considered part of the marriage license.  The bill requires the clerk to include a copy of the affidavit with any future certified copy of the marriage license issued by the clerk.  The bill requires the executive commissioner of the HHSC by rule to prescribe the form of the affidavit.

H.B. 3666 requires a county clerk to require proof of the identity and age of each party to the declaration of informal marriage to be established by one of the documents listed above.

H.B. 3666 authorizes a clerk, on the proper execution of a declaration of informal marriage, to prepare a certificate of informal marriage, to enter on the certificate the names of the persons declaring their informal marriage and the date the certificate or declaration is issued, and to record the time at which the certificate or declaration is issued.  The bill makes conforming changes in provisions relating to a declaration of informal marriage. 

H.B. 3666 requires the executive commissioner of the HHSC, as soon as practicable after the effective date of the bill, to adopt the rules required by provisions relating to parental consent for an underage marriage license  applicant and provisions relating to a duplicate license. 

H.B. 3666 repeals Section 2.011, Family Code, which requires the clerk to record all licenses issued by the clerk and all documents submitted with an application or note a summary of the documents on the application and makes conforming changes in other provisions of the bill.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.