83R5386 EES-D
By: Ashby H.B. No. 869
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the issuance of a marriage license for an absent
applicant and the maintenance of records by a county clerk relating
to a marriage license issued for an absent applicant.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 2.006(a) and (c), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Any [If an applicant is unable to appear personally
before the county clerk to apply for a marriage license, any] adult
person or the other applicant may apply on behalf of an [the absent]
applicant who is:
(1) a member of the armed forces of the United States
stationed in another country in support of combat or another
military operation;
(2) unable to appear personally before the county
clerk to apply for a marriage license; and
(3) unable to attend the marriage ceremony.
(c) The [Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the] clerk may
[not] issue a marriage license under this section for which both
applicants are absent [unless the person applying on behalf of each
absent applicant provides to the clerk an affidavit of the
applicant declaring that the applicant is:
[(1) on active duty as a member of the armed forces of
the United States or the state military forces; or
[(2) confined in a correctional facility, as defined
by Section 1.07, Penal Code].
SECTION 2. Section 2.007, Family Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 2.007. AFFIDAVIT OF ABSENT APPLICANT. The affidavit
of an absent applicant must include:
(1) the absent applicant's full name, including the
maiden surname of a female applicant, address, date of birth, place
of birth, including city, county, and state, citizenship, and
social security number, if any;
(2) a declaration that the absent applicant has not
been divorced within the last 30 days;
(3) a declaration that the absent applicant is:
(A) not presently married; or
(B) married to the other applicant and they wish
to marry again;
(4) a declaration that the other applicant is not
presently married and is not related to the absent applicant as:
(A) an ancestor or descendant, by blood or
adoption;
(B) a brother or sister, of the whole or half
blood or by adoption;
(C) a parent's brother or sister, of the whole or
half blood or by adoption;
(D) a son or daughter of a brother or sister, of
the whole or half blood or by adoption;
(E) a current or former stepchild or stepparent;
or
(F) a son or daughter of a parent's brother or
sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption;
(5) a declaration that the absent applicant desires to
marry and the name, age, and address of the person to whom the
absent applicant desires to be married;
(6) the approximate date on which the marriage is to
occur;
(7) a declaration that the absent applicant is a
member of the armed forces of the United States stationed in another
country in support of combat or another military operation; [the
reason the absent applicant is unable to appear personally before
the county clerk for the issuance of the license; and]
(8) a declaration that the absent applicant is unable
to attend the marriage ceremony; and
(9) [if the absent applicant will be unable to attend
the ceremony,] the appointment of any adult, other than the other
applicant, to act as proxy for the purpose of participating in the
ceremony.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 2, Family Code, is amended
by adding Section 2.0071 to read as follows:
Sec. 2.0071. MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS BY CLERK RELATING TO
LICENSE FOR ABSENT APPLICANT. A county clerk who issues a marriage
license for an absent applicant shall maintain the affidavit of the
absent applicant and the application for the marriage license in
the same manner that the clerk maintains an application for a
marriage license submitted by two applicants in person.
SECTION 4. Section 2.009(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) On the proper execution of the application, the clerk
shall:
(1) prepare the license;
(2) enter on the license the names of the licensees,
the date that the license is issued, and, if applicable, the name of
the person appointed to act as proxy for an absent applicant[, if
any];
(3) record the time at which the license was issued;
(4) distribute to each applicant printed materials
about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and note on the license that the
distribution was made; and
(5) distribute to each applicant a premarital
education handbook provided by the attorney general under Section
2.014.
SECTION 5. Sections 2.006 and 2.007, Family Code, as
amended by this Act, apply to an application for a marriage license
filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application
filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date
the application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.