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2020 SESSION
20108942DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 20-16, 20-25, 20-26, 20-28, 20-33, and 32.1-267 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 20-16. Issuance of marriage licenses and marriage certificates.
The clerk issuing any marriage license shall require the
parties contemplating marriage to state, under oath, the information required
to complete the application for marriage license. The parties shall be able to
designate themselves on the application for marriage license as spouse, bride,
or groom. The clerk shall provide the parties with two copies of the marriage
certificate to be completed by the marriage officiant, who an either
such officiant or a party to the marriage shall return the completed
certificates to the clerk after the marriage ceremony of the parties. The clerk
shall retain one copy of the completed marriage certificate and provide the
other copy to the State Registrar of Vital Records. The clerk may provide the
parties with a commemorative marriage certificate and the parties may request a
certified copy of the official marriage certificate as provided in Article 7 (§
32.1-270 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 32.1. For the purposes of this section
any statement made by such applicant, under oath, concerning the information to
be entered on the application for marriage license is hereby declared to be a
material matter or thing in any prosecution for perjury for any violation of
this section.
§ 20-25. Persons other than ministers who may perform rites.
Upon petition filed with the clerk and payment of applicable
clerk's fees, any circuit court judge may issue an order authorizing one or
more persons resident in the circuit in which the judge sits to celebrate the
rites of marriage in the Commonwealth. Any person so authorized shall,
before acting, enter into bond in the penalty of $500, with or without surety,
as the court may direct. Any order made under this section may be rescinded
at any time. No oath shall be required of a person authorized to celebrate the
rites of marriage, nor shall such person be considered an officer of the
Commonwealth by virtue of such authorization.
Any judge or justice of a court of record, any judge of a district court, any retired judge or justice of the Commonwealth, and any active, senior, or retired federal judge or justice who is a resident of the Commonwealth may celebrate the rites of marriage anywhere in the Commonwealth without the necessity of bond or order of authorization.
The marriage license application shall also allow the parties to the marriage to designate an officiant to celebrate the rites of such marriage. No officiant so designated shall be a party to the marriage or younger than 18 years of age. A license issued with such designation shall serve as authorization for the named officiant to celebrate the rites of marriage anywhere in the Commonwealth without the necessity of bond or further authorization.
§ 20-26. Marriage between members of religious society having no minister.
Marriages between persons belonging to any religious society
which has no ordained minister, may be solemnized by the persons and in the
manner prescribed by and practiced in any such society. One A
person chosen by the society shall be responsible for completing the
certification of marriage in the same manner as a minister or other person
authorized to perform marriages; such person chosen by the society for this
purpose shall be required to execute a bond in the penalty of $500, with surety.
No oath shall be required of a person authorized to celebrate the rites of marriage,
nor shall such person be considered an officer of the Commonwealth by virtue of
such authorization.
§ 20-28. Penalty for celebrating marriage without license.
If any person knowingly perform the ceremony of marriage
without lawful license, or officiate in celebrating the rites of marriage
without being authorized by law to do so, he shall be confined in jail not
exceeding one year, and fined an amount not exceeding $500.
§ 20-33. Penalty for clerk issuing license contrary to law.
If any clerk of a court knowingly issue a marriage license
contrary to law, he shall be confined in jail not exceeding one year, and
fined an amount not exceeding $500.
§ 32.1-267. Records of marriages; duties of officer issuing marriage license and person officiating at ceremony; blocking of social security number.
A. For each marriage performed in the Commonwealth, a record
showing personal data, including but not limited to age and race of the
married parties, the marriage license, and the certifying statement of the facts
of marriage shall be filed with the State Registrar as provided in this
section.
B. The officer issuing a marriage license shall prepare the record based on the information obtained under oath or by affidavit from the parties to be married. The parties shall also include their social security numbers or other control numbers issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to § 46.2-342 and affix their signatures to the application for such license.
C. Every person who officiates at a marriage ceremony shall
certify to the facts of marriage and. Pursuant to § 20-16, either the
officiant or a party to the marriage shall file the record in duplicate
with the officer who issued the marriage license within five days after the
ceremony. In the event such officiant dies or becomes incapacitated before
completing the certificate of marriage, the official who issued the marriage
license shall complete the certificate of marriage upon the order of the court
to which is submitted proof that the marriage was performed.
D. Every officer issuing marriage licenses shall on or before the tenth day of each calendar month forward to the State Registrar a record of each marriage filed with him during the preceding calendar month.
E. The State Registrar shall furnish forms for the marriage license, marriage certificate, and application for marriage license used in the Commonwealth. Such forms shall be configured so as to cause the social security number or control number required pursuant to the provisions of subsection B to appear only on the application for marriage license retained by the officer issuing the marriage license and the copy of such license forwarded to the State Registrar pursuant to the provisions of subsection D.
F. Applications for marriage licenses filed on and after July 1, 1997, and marriage registers recording such applications, which have not been configured to prevent disclosure of the social security number or control number required pursuant to the provisions of subsection B of this section shall not be available for general public inspection in the offices of clerks of the circuit courts. The clerk shall make such applications and registers available for inspection only (i) upon the order of the circuit court within which such application was made or register is maintained, (ii) pursuant to a lawful subpoena duces tecum issued to the clerk, (iii) upon the written authorization of either of the applicants, or (iv) upon the request of a law-enforcement officer or duly authorized representative of the Division of Child Support Enforcement in the course of performing his official duties. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict public access to marriage licenses or to prohibit the clerk from making available to the public applications for marriage licenses and marriage registers stored in any electronic medium or other format that permits the blocking of the field containing the social security or control number required pursuant to the provisions of subsection B of this section, so long as access to such number is blocked.
2. That §§ 20-21, 20-22, 20-24, and 20-37 of the Code of Virginia are repealed.