87R14478 MLH-D
 
  By: Moody H.B. No. 451
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to persons authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 2.202(a) and (b), Family Code, are
  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 current, former, or retired federal judge or
  state judge [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, retired judge of a municipal court, associate judge of a
  statutory probate court, retired associate judge of a statutory
  probate court, associate judge of a county court at law, retired
  associate judge of a county court at law, or judge or magistrate of
  a federal court of this state; and
               [(5)  a retired judge or magistrate of a federal court
  of this state].
         (b)  For the purposes of Subsection (a)(4), "federal judge" 
  and "state judge" have the meanings assigned by Section 25.025, Tax
  Code [a retired judge or justice is a former judge or justice who is
  vested in the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan One or the
  Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan Two or who has an aggregate
  of at least 12 years of service as judge or justice of any type
  listed in Subsection (a)(4)].
         SECTION 2.  Section 2.202(b-1), Family Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.