83R5386 EES-D

By: Ashby H.B. No. 869

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the issuance of a marriage license for an absent applicant and the maintenance of records by a county clerk relating to a marriage license issued for an absent applicant.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 2.006(a) and (c), Family Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Any [If an applicant is unable to appear personally before the county clerk to apply for a marriage license, any] adult person or the other applicant may apply on behalf of an [the absent] applicant who is:

(1) a member of the armed forces of the United States stationed in another country in support of combat or another military operation;

(2) unable to appear personally before the county clerk to apply for a marriage license; and

(3) unable to attend the marriage ceremony.

(c) The [Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the] clerk may [not] issue a marriage license under this section for which both applicants are absent [unless the person applying on behalf of each absent applicant provides to the clerk an affidavit of the applicant declaring that the applicant is:

[(1) on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the United States or the state military forces; or

[(2) confined in a correctional facility, as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code].

SECTION 2. Section 2.007, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2.007. AFFIDAVIT OF ABSENT APPLICANT. The affidavit of an absent applicant must include:

(1) the absent applicant's full name, including the maiden surname of a female applicant, address, date of birth, place of birth, including city, county, and state, citizenship, and social security number, if any;

(2) a declaration that the absent applicant has not been divorced within the last 30 days;

(3) a declaration that the absent applicant is:

(A) not presently married; or

(B) married to the other applicant and they wish to marry again;

(4) a declaration that the other applicant is not presently married and is not related to the absent applicant as:

(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or adoption;

(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption;

(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption;

(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption;

(E) a current or former stepchild or stepparent; or

(F) a son or daughter of a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption;

(5) a declaration that the absent applicant desires to marry and the name, age, and address of the person to whom the absent applicant desires to be married;

(6) the approximate date on which the marriage is to occur;

(7) a declaration that the absent applicant is a member of the armed forces of the United States stationed in another country in support of combat or another military operation; [the reason the absent applicant is unable to appear personally before the county clerk for the issuance of the license; and]

(8) a declaration that the absent applicant is unable to attend the marriage ceremony; and

(9) [if the absent applicant will be unable to attend the ceremony,] the appointment of any adult, other than the other applicant, to act as proxy for the purpose of participating in the ceremony.

SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 2, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 2.0071 to read as follows:

Sec. 2.0071. MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS BY CLERK RELATING TO LICENSE FOR ABSENT APPLICANT. A county clerk who issues a marriage license for an absent applicant shall maintain the affidavit of the absent applicant and the application for the marriage license in the same manner that the clerk maintains an application for a marriage license submitted by two applicants in person.

SECTION 4. Section 2.009(c), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) On the proper execution of the application, the clerk shall:

(1) prepare the license;

(2) enter on the license the names of the licensees, the date that the license is issued, and, if applicable, the name of the person appointed to act as proxy for an absent applicant[, if any];

(3) record the time at which the license was issued;

(4) distribute to each applicant printed materials about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and note on the license that the distribution was made; and

(5) distribute to each applicant a premarital education handbook provided by the attorney general under Section 2.014.

SECTION 5. Sections 2.006 and 2.007, Family Code, as amended by this Act, apply to an application for a marriage license filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.