Mississippi HB 606: Marriage license; require previously married applicant to provide certified copy of divorce or annulment when applying for.

Bill Text

HB 606 (As Introduced) - 2018 Regular Session 

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Judiciary A

By: Representative Banks

House Bill 606

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 93-1-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 
PROVIDE THAT IF EITHER OF THE PARTIES APPLYING FOR A MARRIAGE LICENSE HAS BEEN 
PREVIOUSLY MARRIED AND THE FORMER SPOUSE OF THE PARTY IS STILL LIVING OR IT IS 
UNKNOWN WHETHER THE FORMER SPOUSE IS STILL LIVING, THE APPLICANT SHALL PROVIDE 
A CERTIFIED COPY OF THE DECREE OF DIVORCE OR ANNULMENT OF THE PARTY ALONG WITH 
THE APPLICATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

���� BE IT ENACTED BY THE 
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

���� SECTION 1.� Section 
93-1-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

���� 93-1-5.� (1)� Every male who 
is at least seventeen (17) years old and every female who is at least fifteen 
(15) years old shall be capable in law of contracting marriage.� However, males 
and females under the age of twenty-one (21) years must furnish the 
circuit clerk satisfactory evidence of consent to the marriage by the parents 
or guardians of the parties.� It shall be unlawful for the circuit court clerk 
to issue a marriage license until the following conditions precedent have been 
complied with:

��������� (a)� Application 
for the license is to be made in writing to the clerk of the circuit court of 
any county in the State of Mississippi.� If either of the parties has been 
previously married and the former spouse or spouses of the party are still 
living or it is unknown whether the former spouse or spouses are still living, 
the applicant shall provide a certified copy of the decree or decrees of 
divorce or annulment along with the application.� The application shall be 
sworn to by both applicants and shall include:

������������� (i)� The names, 
ages and addresses of the parties applying;

������������� (ii)� The names and 
addresses of the parents of the applicants, and, for applicants under the age 
of twenty-one (21), if no parents, then names and addresses of the guardian or 
next of kin;

������������� (iii)� The 
signatures of witnesses; and

������������� (iv)� Any other 
data that may be required by law or the State Board of Health.

��������� (b)� Proof of age shall 
be presented to the circuit court clerk in the form of either a birth 
certificate, baptismal record, armed service discharge, armed service 
identification card, life insurance policy, insurance certificate, school 
record, driver's license, or other official document evidencing age.� The 
document substantiating age and date of birth shall be examined by the circuit 
court clerk before whom application is made, and the circuit court clerk shall 
retain in his file with the application the document or a certified or 
photostatic copy of the document.

��������� (c)� Applicants under 
the age of twenty-one (21) must submit affidavits showing the age of both 
applying parties made by either the father, mother, guardian or next of kin of 
each of the contracting parties and filed with the clerk of the circuit court 
along with the application.

��������� (d)� If the male 
applicant is under seventeen (17) years of age or the female is under fifteen 
(15) years of age, and satisfactory proof is furnished to the judge of any 
circuit, chancery or county court that sufficient reasons exist and that the 
parties desire to be married to each other and that the parents or other person 
in loco parentis of the person or persons so under age consent to the marriage, 
then the judge of any such court in the county where either of the parties 
resides may waive the minimum age requirement and by written instrument 
authorize the clerk of the court to issue the marriage license to the parties 
if they are otherwise qualified by law.� Authorization shall be a part of the 
confidential files of the clerk of the court, subject to inspection only by 
written permission of the judge.

��������� (e)� In no event shall 
a license be issued by the circuit court clerk when it appears to the circuit 
court clerk that the applicants are, or either of them is:

������������� (i)� Intoxicated; 
or

���� ��������� (ii)� Suffering 
from a mental illness or an intellectual disability to the extent that the 
clerk believes that the person does not understand the nature and consequences 
of the application for a marriage license.

���� (2)� Any circuit clerk shall 
be liable under his official bond because of noncompliance with the provisions 
of this section.

���� (3)� Any circuit court clerk 
who issues a marriage license without complying with the provisions of this 
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) and not more than 
Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).

���� SECTION 2.� This act 
shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.