Senate Bill No. 550
(By Senator Kessler)
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[Introduced February 12, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to 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 person shall give bond in the penalty of one thousand
five hundred dollars, with surety approved by the commission. Any
religious representative who gives proof before the county
commission of his or her ordination or authorization by his or her
respective church, synagogue, spiritual assembly or religious
organization is exempt from giving the bond. (c) 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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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the bond
required for registration as a person authorized to perform
marriages and to provide a procedure for the removal of a person
authorized to perform marriages to inactive status.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)