ENROLLED
H. B. 2731
(By Delegates Staton, Hines, Capito,
Johnson, Faircloth, Linch and Hunt)
[Passed March 4, 1999; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to repeal sections six-a, six-b, six-c, six-d and twenty,
article one, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and
reenact section six of said article; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto three new sections, designated
sections seven, eight and eight-a, all relating to
applications for a marriage license; eliminating requirements
for a blood test; prescribing which county clerks may issue
licenses, based on residency of applicants; establishing a
three-day waiting period before a license may issue if either
or both applicants is under eighteen years of age; providing
for a circuit judge to dispense with or shorten the waiting
period in case of emergency or extraordinary circumstances;
setting forth the contents of an application for a marriage
license; providing for execution and recordation of the
marriage license; requiring proof of age by applicants; and prohibiting certain unlawful acts by the clerk of the county
commission, and defining misdemeanor offenses and establishing
penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections six-a, six-b, six-c, six-d and twenty, article
one, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be repealed; that section six
of said article be amended and reenacted; and that said article be
further amended by adding thereto three new sections, designated
sections seven, eight and eight-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. MARRIAGE.
§48-1-6. Waiting period before issuance of marriage license;
issuance of license in case of emergency or
extraordinary circumstances.
(a) If one or both of the applicants are residents of this
state, they may apply for a marriage license to be issued by the
clerk of the county commission of the county in which a resident
applicant usually resides. If both parties are nonresidents of
this state, they may apply for a license to be issued by the clerk
of the county commission in any county in this state.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this
section, if either or both of the applicants for a marriage license
is under eighteen years of age, the clerk of the county commission
may not issue a marriage license until two full days elapse after the day the license application is filed.
(c) In case of an emergency or extraordinary circumstances,
as shown by affidavit or other proof, a circuit judge of the county
in which an application for a marriage license will be filed may
order the clerk of the county commission to issue a license at any
time before the expiration of the waiting period prescribed in
subsection (b) of this section. The clerk of the county commission
shall attach a certified copy of the judge's order to the
application and issue the marriage license in accordance with the
order. If the judge or judges of the county in which the
application will be filed are absent or incapacitated, the order
may be made and directed to the clerk of the county commission of
the county by a circuit judge in any adjoining judicial circuit, or
a special judge appointed by the supreme court of appeals.
(d) Applications for licenses may be received and licenses may
be issued by the clerk of the county commission at anytime the
office of the clerk is officially open for the conduct of business.
§48-1-7. Contents of application for marriage license; execution
of application; recordation of application.
(a) The application for a marriage license must contain a
statement of the full names of both parties, their social security
account numbers, dates of birth, places of birth and residence
addresses. If either of the parties is a legal alien in the United
States of America and has no social security account number, the tourist or visitor visa number or number equivalent to a United
States social security account number must be provided.
(b) Every application for a marriage license must contain the
following statement:
"The laws of this state affirm your right to enter into this
marriage and at the same time to live within the marriage free from
violence and abuse. Neither of you is the property of the other.
Physical abuse, sexual abuse, battery and assault of a spouse or
other family member, and other provisions of the criminal laws of
this state are applicable to spouses and other family members and
these violations are punishable by law."
(c) Both parties to a contemplated marriage are required to
sign the application for a marriage license, under oath, before the
clerk of the county commission or another person authorized to
administer oaths under the laws of this state.
(d) The clerk shall record the application for a marriage
license in the register of marriages provided for in section eleven
of this article. The clerk shall note the date of the filing of
the application in the register. The notation, or a certified copy
thereof, is legal evidence of the facts contained in the license.
§48-1-8. Proof of age.
(a) At the time of the execution of the application, the
clerk or the person administering the oath to the applicants shall
require evidence of the age of each of the applicants. Evidence of age may be as follows:
(1) A certified copy of a birth certificate or a duplicate
thereof produced by any means that accurately reproduces the
original;
(2) A voter's registration certificate;
(3) An operator's or chauffeur's license;
(4) The affidavit of both parents or the legal guardian of the
applicant; or
(5) Other good and sufficient evidence.
(b) If an affidavit is relied upon as evidence of the age of
an applicant, and if one parent is dead, the affidavit of the
surviving parent or of the guardian of the applicant is sufficient.
If both parents are dead, the affidavit of the guardian of the
applicant is sufficient. If the parents of the applicant live
separate and apart, the affidavit of the parent having legal
custody of the applicant is sufficient.
§48-1-8a.
Unlawful acts by clerk of the county commission;
penalties.
(a) It is unlawful for a clerk of the county commission to do
any of the following acts:
(1) To make a false entry as to the date of application for
a marriage license;
(2) To issue a marriage license prior to the end of the
required three-day period (unless a circuit judge dispenses with this requirement by order pursuant to subsection (c), section six
of this article);
(3) To issue a license on any Sunday or a legal holiday; or
(4) To receive an application for a marriage license or issue
a marriage license in any place other than the office of the clerk
of the county commission.
(b) A clerk of the county commission who violates the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a
fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars, or by confinement in jail for not less than three
months nor more than nine months, or by both such fine and
confinement, in the discretion of the court.
(c) A clerk of the county commission who otherwise knowingly
issues a marriage license contrary to law is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by confinement in jail
for not more than one year, or by both such fine and confinement,
in the discretion of the court.