BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 460

By: Cortez

Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, a county clerk is authorized to issue a marriage license but is not included among those who are authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony. C.S.H.B. 460 seeks to provide couples with an additional option in choosing the person who conducts their marriage ceremony by authorizing certain county clerks and deputy clerks to conduct marriage ceremonies.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 460 amends the Family Code and the Government Code to authorize the county clerk in a county with a population of at least 1.7 million that contains a municipality in which at least 75 percent of the county's population resides, and any deputy clerk appointed by the clerk, to conduct a marriage ceremony. The bill requires such a clerk or deputy clerk who conducts a marriage ceremony to collect a $25 fee for conducting the ceremony and deposit the fee in the county treasury to be used by the county only to fund charitable organizations that assist or provide care for victims of family violence or of child abuse or neglect or that provide family violence prevention services.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 460 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

INTRODUCED	HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
SECTION 1.  Section 2.202(a), Family Code, is 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 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, or judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state; and (5)  in a county with a population of 1.3 million or more, the county clerk and any deputy clerk appointed by the clerk.	SECTION 1.  Section 2.202(a), Family Code, is 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 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, or judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state; and (5)  in a county with a population of at least 1.7 million that contains a municipality in which at least 75 percent of the county's population resides, the county clerk and any deputy clerk appointed by the clerk.
SECTION 2.  Section 51.402, Government Code, is amended.	SECTION 2. Same as introduced version.
SECTION 3.  Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Government Code, is amended.	SECTION 3. Same as introduced version.
SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a marriage ceremony that is conducted on or after the effective date of this Act. A marriage ceremony conducted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the ceremony was conducted, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.	SECTION 4. Same as introduced version.
SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.	SECTION 5. Same as introduced version.