ENROLLED

Senate Bill No. 146

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,

By Request of the Executive)

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[Passed March 11, 2000; in effect ninety days from passage.]

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AN ACT to amend and reenact section seven, article one, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighteen-a, relating to marriages; requiring an application for a marriage license state that marriage is designed for a woman and a man; and providing that certain acts, records and proceedings are not to be given effect in this state.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven, article one, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighteen-a, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1. MARRIAGE.
§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 female and male 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: "Marriage is designed to be a loving and lifelong union between a woman and a man. The laws of this state affirm your right to enter into this marriage and 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 female and male 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.
§48-1-18a. Certain acts, records and proceedings not to be given effect in this state.

A public act, record or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of any other state, territory, possession or tribe or a right or claim arising from the relationship shall not be given effect by this state.