H. B. 4605
(By Delegates Miley, Moore, Walker, Ferro, Boggs, J. Miller, Manypenny, Michael, Pino, O’Neal and Lane)
[Introduced February 17, 2012; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §48-2-104 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto two new sections, designated §48-2-701 and §48-2-702; and to amend and reenact §59-1-10 of said code, all relating generally to premarital education; providing a premarital education option to applicants for marriage licenses; providing for minimum requirements concerning the provision of the premarital education; encouraging marriage applicants to participate in premarital education by increased marriage license fees in its absence; and to create a fund for purposes of administering the premarital education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-2-104 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by adding thereto two new sections, designated §48-2-701 and §48-2-702; and that §59-1-10 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 48. DOMESTIC RELATIONS.
ARTICLE 2. MARRIAGE.
PART I. APPLICATION FOR MARRIAGE LICENSE
§48-2-104. Contents of the application for a marriage license.
(a) The application for a marriage license must contain a statement of the full names of both female and male parties, their social security account numbers, dates of birth, places of birth and residence addresses. The application must state that the persons seeking the license have or have not completed premarital education pursuant to section seven-hundred-one, article two, chapter forty-eight of this code. If the application states that the applicants seeking issuance of the license have completed premarital education, then the applicants shall submit a signed and dated certificate of completion issued by the premarital education provider.
(b) If either of the parties is a legal alien in the United States of America and has no social security account number, a tourist or visitor visa number or number equivalent to a United States social security account number must be provided.
(c) Every application for a marriage license must contain the following statement: “Marriage is designed to be a loving and lifelong union between a woman and a man.
The laws of this state affirm your right to enter into this marriage and to live within the marriage free from violence and abuse. Neither of you is the property of the other. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, battery and assault of a spouse or other family member and other provisions of the criminal laws of this state are applicable to spouses and other family members, and these violations are punishable by law.”
Part VII. PREMARITAL EDUCATION.
§48-2-701. Premarital education encouraged; requirements.
(a) Persons applying for a marriage license may attend a premarital education course of at least eight hours during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of the application for the license.
(b) A premarital education course offers instruction involving marital issues which may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Conflict management;
(2) Communication skills;
(3) Managing finances;
(4) Child and parenting responsibilities;
(5) Extended family roles; and
(6) Key components of a successful marriage.
(c) Premarital education course instructors must have training in skills-based and research-based marriage preparation curricula.
(d) Premarital education courses may be performed by the following:
(1) A professional counselor or marriage and family therapist licensed pursuant to article thirty-one, chapter thirty of this code;
(2) A social worker licensed pursuant to article thirty, chapter thirty of this code;
(3) A psychiatrist who is licensed as a physician pursuant to article three, chapter thirty of this code;
(4) A psychologist who is licensed pursuant to article twenty-one, chapter thirty of this code; or
(5) An active member of the clergy or his or her designee, including retired clergy, provided that a designee is trained in skills-based and research-based marriage preparation curricula premarital education.
(e) The premarital education course curricula must meet the requirements of this section and provide the skills-based and research-based curricula of the following:
(1) The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center;
(2) A church, spiritual assembly, or religious organization; or
(3) Other substantially similar resource.
(f) The Department of Health and Human Resources shall maintain an Internet website on which individuals and organizations described in subsection (c) may electronically register with the department to indicate the skills-based and research-based curriculum in which the registrant is trained.
(g) The premarital education provider shall furnish each participant who completes the premarital education required by this section a certificate of completion.
§48-2-702. Marriage education trust fund.
There is hereby created a special revenue account within the State Treasury known as the Marriage Education Trust Fund. The account shall be administered by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources for the purpose of collecting and disbursing funds generated from the surplus marriage license fee as provided in section ten, article one, chapter fifty-nine of this code to fund marriage education programs that prepare, strengthen, and restore healthy marriage relationships. The account may be invested and all earnings and interest accruing shall be retained in the account. The Auditor shall conduct an audit of the fund at least every three fiscal years.
CHAPTER 59. FEES, ALLOWANCES AND COSTS; NEWSPAPERS;
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS.
ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.
§59-1-10. Fees to be charged by clerk of county commission.
For the purpose of this section, the word “page” is defined as being a paper or electronic writing of not more than legal size, 8 1/2" x 14".
The clerk of the county commission shall charge and collect the following fees:
(a) When a writing is admitted to record, for receiving proof of acknowledgment thereof, entering an order in connection therewith, endorsing clerk’s certificate of recordation thereon and indexing in a proper index, where the writing is a: the clerk of the county commission shall charge and collect the following fees:
(1) Fifteen dollars for a deed of conveyance (with or without a plat), trust deed, fixture filing or security agreement concerning real estate lease.$15.
(2) Forty dollars for a trustee’s report of sale for any property for which additional information and filing requirements are required by section eight-a, article one, chapter thirty-eight of this code. $40. Provided, That Twenty dollars of each recording fee received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into the county’s General Revenue Fund and $20 of each of the aforesaid recording fees shall be paid quarterly by the clerk of the county commission to the West Virginia Housing Development Fund established in article eighteen, chapter thirty-one of this code.
(3) Ten dollars for a financing, continuation, termination or other statement or writing permitted to be filed under chapter forty-six of this code. $10.
(4) Ten dollars for a plat or map with no deed of conveyance. $10.
(5) No charge for a service discharge record. no charge.
(6) Ten dollars for any document or writing other than those referenced in subdivisions (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this subsection. $10.
(7) If any document or writing contains more than five pages, for each additional page, $1. One dollar for each additional page for documents or writings containing more than five pages.
For any of the documents admitted to record pursuant to this subsection, if the clerk of the county commission has the technology available to receive these documents in electronic form or other media, the clerk shall set a reasonable fee to record these writings not to exceed the cost for filing paper documents.
(8) Of the fees collected pursuant to subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, $10 shall be deposited in the County General Fund in accordance with section twenty-eight of this article and $1 shall be deposited in the County General Fund and dedicated to the operation of the county clerk’s office. Four dollars of the fees collected pursuant to subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section and $5 of the fees collected pursuant to subdivision (6), subsection (a) of this section shall be paid by the county clerk into the State Treasury and deposited in equal amounts for deposit into the Farmland Protection Fund created in article twelve, chapter eight-a of this code for the benefit of the West Virginia Agricultural Land Protection Authority and into the Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund created in article two-g, chapter five-b of this code. Provided, That The funds deposited in the State Treasury pursuant to this subdivision may only be used for costs, excluding personnel costs, associated with purpose of land conservation, as defined in subsection (f), section seven, article two-g, chapter five-b of this code.
(b) Five dollars for administering any oath other than oaths by officers and employees of the state, political subdivisions of the state or a public or quasi-public entity of the state or a political subdivision of the state, taken in his or her official capacity. $5.
(c) Seventy dollars for issuance of marriage license and other duties pertaining to the marriage license including preparation of the application, administrating the oath, registering and recording the license, mailing acknowledgment of minister’s return to one of the licensees and notification to a licensee after sixty days of the nonreceipt of the minister’s return. $35 This fee is reduced to $35 if the applicants present a premarital education course completion certificate issued pursuant to section seven hundred one, article two, chapter forty-eight of this code, and dated within one year of the application for a marriage license.
(1) One dollar of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the State Treasury as a state registration fee in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the Treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;
(2) Fifteen dollars of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the State Treasury for the Family Protection Shelter Support Act in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the Treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;
(3) Ten dollars of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code; and
(4) If a premarital education course completion certificate is not presented, $35 of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in Marriage Education Trust Fund created pursuant to section seven-hundred-two, article two, chapter forty-eight of this code.
(d) (1) One dollar and fifty cents for a copy of any writing or document, if it is not otherwise provided for. $1.50.
(2) If the copy of the writing or document contains more than two pages, for each additional page, $1. One dollar for each additional page if the writing or documents contains more than two pages.
(3) One dollar for annexing the seal of the commission or clerk to any paper. $1.
(4) Five dollars for a certified copy of a birth certificate, death certificate or marriage license. $5.
(e) For copies of any record in electronic form or a medium other than paper, a reasonable fee set by the clerk of the county commission not to exceed the costs associated with document search and duplication.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a premarital education option to applicants for marriage licenses, provide for minimum requirements concerning the provision of this education, to encourage marriage applicants to participate in premarital education by increased marriage license fees in its absence and to create a fund for purposes of administering the premarital education.
Strike throughs indicate language that would be stricken from and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.