An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 3075 By: Culver of the House
and
Jech of the Senate
An Act relating to marriage; amending 43 O.S. 2021,
Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, and 20, which relate to marriage
licenses and certificates; providing for a reissued
marriage certificate if name is erroneous or
misspelled; requiring notation that the certificate
is reissued or amended; mandating certain married
name changes; prohibiting entirely different name
change using a marriage certificate ; requiring
compliance with certain name change petition process;
modifying contents of marriage licenses; modifying
timing for completion of marriage ceremony and return
of certain documents; del eting residency requirement
for marriage officiant; directing officiant to
certify credentials or authority on the marriage
certificate; striking court clerk filing requirement
for officiant; providing for transmission of marriage
license and certificate to court clerk within certain
time; requiring issuance of marriage licenses to all
legally eligible persons; prescribing time
requirements for valid marriage lic ense and ceremony;
mandating return of marriage license and certificate
within thirty days of issuance; repealing 43 O.S.
2021, Sections 19 and 36, which relate to marriage
licenses; and providing an effective date .
SUBJECT: Marriage
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 2
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 5, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 5. A. Persons desiring to be married in this state
shall submit an application in writing signed and sworn to in person
before the clerk of the district court b y both of the parties
setting forth:
1. The place of residence of each party;
2. The full legal name and the age of each party as they appear
upon or are calculable from a certified copy of the birth
certificate, the current driver license or identificat ion card, the
current passport or visa, or any other certificate, license or
document issued by or existing pursuan t to the laws of any nation or
of any state, or political subdivision thereof, accepted as proof of
identity and age;
3. For each party, the full name by which the party w ill be
known after the marriage as provided in subsection E of this
section, which shall become the full legal name of th e party upon
the filing of the marriage license and certificate with the court,
as required by law; prov ided, however, a marriage certificate issued
prior to June 8, 2006 , or any marriage certificate which contains an
erroneous or misspelled name of a part y, shall be reissued upon
request by the certificate holder to include the information
required by this paragraph. Such reissued certificate shall reflect
the original marriage date and shall be signed by the court cle rk
with a notation by the clerk that the certificate is "reissued" or
"amended". Signatures of the officiant and original w itnesses shall
not be required;
4. That the parties are not disqualified from or incapable of
entering into the marriage relation; and
5. Whether the parties have succ essfully completed a premarital
counseling program.
B. 1. Upon application pursuant t o this section and the
payment of fees as provided in Section 31 of Title 28 of the
Oklahoma Statutes, if the clerk of the district court is satisfied
of the truth and sufficiency of the application and that there is no
legal impediment to such marriage, t he court clerk shall issue the
marriage license authorizing the marriage and a marriage
certificate, which shall be incorporated as one document. As ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 3
required by law, the marriage certificate shall be completed
immediately following the marriage, and the m arriage license and
certificate shall be returned to the court clerk.
2. Parties to be married and who pr esent a certificate to the
clerk of the district court that sta tes the parties have completed
the premarital counseling program pursuant to Section 5. 1 of this
title shall be entitled to pay a reduced fee for a marriage license
in an amount provided in Sec tion 31 of Title 28 of the Oklahoma
Statutes.
C. In the event that one or both of the parties are under legal
age, the application shall have been on file in the court clerk's
office for a period of not less than seventy -two (72) hours prior to
issuance of the marriage license.
D. The marriage license shall be valid in any county within the
state.
E. On the marriage certificate , the full name by which a party
shall be known after marriage may be any combination of the legal
first, middle, and last names, given names and surnames , of either
party, including segments of names or initials, with or without
hyphens. However, the marriage certificate shall no t be used to
change the name of a party to an entirely different name which is
not derived from the leg al name of either party . The party shall
petition for a name change using the process established in Section
1631 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
F. The provisions hereof are mandatory and not direct ory except
under the circumstances set out in the provisions of Section 3 o f
this title.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 6, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 6. A. The marriage license provided for in this title
shall contain:
1. The date of its issuance;
2. The name of the court iss uing the license, and the name of
the city or town and county in which the court is located;
ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 4
3. The full legal names of the persons authorize d to be married
by the license, the full legal names by which the persons will be
known after the marriage, subject to the provisions of Section 5 of
this title, their ages, and their places of residence;
4. Directions to any person authorized by law to p erform and
solemnize the marriage ceremony;
5. The date number of days by which the completed marriage
ceremony shall be completed and the number of d ays by which the
certificate, along with the marriage license, shall be returned to
the judge or court clerk, which shall not be more than thirty (30)
days from the date of its issuance as provided in Section 20 of th is
title; and
6. Any other information, declarations, seals and signatures,
as required by law.
B. The marriage certificate provided for in th is title shall
contain appropriate wording and blanks to be completed and endorsed,
as required by Section 8 o f this title, by the person solemnizing or
performing the marriage ceremony, the witnesses, and the persons who
have been married.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 7, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 7. A. All marriages must be contracted by a formal
ceremony performed or solemnized in the presence of at least two
adult, competent persons as witnesses, by a judge or retired judge
of any court in this state, or an orda ined or authorized preac her or
minister of the Gospel, priest or other ecclesiastical d ignitary of
any denomination who has been duly ordained or authorized by the
church to which he or she be longs to preach the Gospel, or a rabbi
and who is at least eight een (18) years of age.
B. 1. The judge shall place his or her order of appointment on
file with the office of the court clerk of the county in which he or
she resides.
2. The preacher, mini ster, priest, rabbi, or ecclesiastical
dignitary who is a resident of this state shall have filed, in the
office of the court clerk of the county in wh ich he or she resides,
a copy of the certify on the marriage certificate that he or she ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 5
holds credentials or authority from his or her church or synagogue
authorizing him or her to solemnize ma rriages.
3. The preacher, minister, priest, rabbi, or ecclesia stical
dignitary who is not a resident of this state, but has complied with
the laws of the state of whic h he or she is a resident, shall have
filed once, in the office of the court clerk of th e county in which
he or she intends to perform or solemnize a m arriage, a copy of the
credentials or authority from his or her church or synagogue
authorizing him or he r to solemnize marriages.
4. The filing by resident or nonresident preachers, ministers ,
priests, rabbis, ecclesiastical dignitaries or judges shall b e
effective in and for all counties of this state; provided, no fee
shall be charged for such recording.
C. No person herein authorized to perform or solemnize a
marriage ceremony shall do so unless the license issued therefor be
first delivered into his or her possession nor unless he or she has
good reason to believe the persons presenting themselves befor e him
or her for marriage are the identical persons named in the license,
and for whose marriage the same was issued, and that there is no
legal objection or impediment to such marriage.
D. Marriages between persons belonging to the society called
Friends, or Quakers, the spiritual assembly of the Baha 'is, or the
Church of Jesus Christ of La tter Day Saints, which have no ordained
minister, may be solemn ized by the persons and in the manner
prescribed by and practiced in any such society, church, or
assembly.
SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 8, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 8. A. The person performing or sol emnizing the
marriage ceremony shall, immediately upon the completion of the
ceremony, endorse upon the l icense authorizing the marriage:
1. His or her name and official or cleric al designation;
2. The court of which he or she is the judge, or the
congregation or body of which he or she is pastor, preacher,
minister, priest, rabbi or dignitary; provided, that the authority
to perform or solemnize marriages shall be coextensive w ith the
congregation or body of which he or she is pastor, preacher, ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 6
minister, priest, rabbi or dignitary; provided further, that all
marriages solemnized among the society called F riends or Quakers,
the spiritual assembly of the Baha 'is, or the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Latter Day Saints, in the form heretofore practiced
and in use in their meetings shall be good and valid. One person
chosen by such society, assembly, or church sha ll be responsible for
completing the marriage certificate pursuant to this section in the
same manner as a minister or other person authorized to perform
marriages;
3. The town or city and county where the court, congregation,
body, society, assembly, or church is located; and
4. His or her signature along with his or her off icial or
clerical designation.
B. The witnesses to the ceremony shall endorse the marriage
certificate, attesting to their presence at the ceremony, with their
names and post office addresses.
C. The persons who have been married in the ceremony shall
endorse the marriage certificate with the nam es by which they are to
be known from the time of the marriage, as evidenced on the marriage
license.
D. The marriage license, along wi th the completed marriage
certificate shall be transmitted without delay to the judge or the
court clerk who issued the license and certificate for recording
within the time period required in Section 20 of this title.
SECTION 5. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 20, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 20. A. Marriage licenses shall be issued t o all
applicants who are entitled under the laws of the State of Oklahoma
to apply for a marriage license and contr act matrimony. Once
issued, the marriage license shall be valid for thirty (30) days and
the marriage ceremony shall be performed no later t han thirty (30)
days from the date the license is issued. The marriage license and
completed marriage certificate shall be returned to the c ourt clerk
for recording no later than thirty (30) days from the date the
license was issued.
B. The time within which an act is to be done, as provided for
in Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes, shall be computed by excluding ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 7
the first day and including the last day. If the last day is a
legal holiday as defined by Sect ion 82.1 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma
Statutes, it shall be excluded. The provisions of this section are
hereby declared to be a clarification of the law as it existed prior
to the effective date of this act June 1, 2000, and shall not be
considered or construed to be a change of the law as it existed
prior to the effective date of this act June 1, 2000. Any action or
proceeding arising under Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes prior to
the effective date of this act June 1, 2000, for which a
determination of the period of time prescribed by this section is in
question or has been in question due to the enactment of Section 20,
Chapter 293, O.S.L. 1999 , 2006 of Title 12 of the Ok lahoma Statutes
shall be governed by the method for computation of time as
prescribed by this section.
SECTION 6. REPEALER 43 O.S. 2021, Sections 19 and 36,
are hereby repealed.
SECTION 7. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
ENR. H. B. NO. 3075 Page 8
Passed the House of Representatives the 9th day of May, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 26th day of April, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of __________________ _, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________