ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 550
(By Senator Kessler)
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[Passed March 9, 2007; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT amend and reenact §48-2-402 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the maintenance of a registry
for registration and renewal of persons authorized to perform
marriages; eliminating the bonding requirement; providing for
the removal of a registrant to inactive status; and
establishing a fee for reactivation of a registrant on
inactive status.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-2-402 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. MARRIAGES.
§48-2-402. Qualifications of religious representative for
celebrating marriages; registry of persons
authorized to perform marriage ceremonies; special
revenue fund.
(a) Beginning the first day of September, two thousand one,
the Secretary of State shall, upon payment of the registration fee
established by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section, make an order authorizing a person who is a religious
representative to celebrate the rites of marriage in all the
counties of the state, upon proof that the person:
(1) Is eighteen years of age or older;
(2) Is duly authorized to perform marriages by his or her
church, synagogue, spiritual assembly or religious organization;
and
(3) Is in regular communion with the church, synagogue,
spiritual assembly or religious organization of which he or she is
a member.
(b) The Secretary of State shall establish a central registry
of persons authorized to celebrate marriages in this state. Every
person authorized under the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section to celebrate marriages shall be listed in this registry.
Every county clerk shall, prior to the first day of October, two
thousand one, transmit to the Secretary of State the name of every
person authorized to celebrate marriages by order issued in his or
her county since one thousand nine hundred sixty and the Secretary
of State shall include these names in the registry. The completed
registry and periodic updates shall be transmitted to every county
clerk.
(c) (1) Upon written request from the registrant, the Secretary of State shall designate the registrant as inactive on
the registry.
(2) Upon written notice from the governing body of the
registrant's authorizing body that the registrant has died or that
the registrant's authority to perform marriages has been revoked,
the Secretary of State shall attempt to notify the registrant of
the change in the registrant's status by United States mail
addressed to the registrant's last known address. If the registrant
fails to provide the Secretary of State with proof of good standing
with his or her authorizing body within thirty days, the registrant
shall be designated on the registry as inactive.
(d) A fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars may be charged by
the Secretary of State for each registration or reactivation of an
individual designated as inactive on the registry received on or
after the first day of September, two thousand one, and all money
received shall be deposited in a special revenue revolving fund
designated the Marriage Celebrants Registration Fee Administration
Fund in the State Treasury to be administered by the Secretary of
State. Expenses incurred by the secretary in the implementation and
operation of the registry program shall be paid from the fund.
(e) No marriage performed by a person authorized by law to
celebrate marriages may be invalidated solely because the person
was not listed in the registry provided for in this section.
(f) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules to implement
the provisions of this section.
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