BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2761| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2761 Author: Low (D) Amended: 8/18/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/14/16 AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/9/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Marriage SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill authorizes former Members of the Legislature and constitutional officers of this state, former Members of Congress of the United States who represented a district within this state, and current and former elected officials of a city, county, or city and county, to solemnize a marriage. This bill removes the requirement that county supervisors, city clerks, and elected mayors obtain and review all available instructions for marriage solemnization before first solemnizing a marriage. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/16 ensure that, like elected officials, judges may not accept compensation for solemnizing a marriage while serving on the bench, and prohibits judges from solemnizing a marriage if they have been removed from the bench due to committing an offense or have been convicted of a crime that involves moral turpitude, dishonesty, or fraud. AB 2761 Page 2 ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Provides that the county clerk is designated as a commissioner of civil marriages for each county. The commissioner of civil marriages may appoint deputy commissioners of civil marriages who may solemnize marriages under the direction of the commissioner of civil marriages and shall perform other duties directed by the commissioner. (Fam. Code Sec. 401.) 2)Provides that a marriage may be solemnized by authorized persons of any religious denomination, by specified Legislators, constitutional officers, and California members of Congress, while those persons are currently holding that office, and by specified justices, judges, and magistrates, both current and retired. (Fam. Code Sec. 400.) 3)Provides that an elected mayor, county supervisor, or city clerk may solemnize marriage ceremonies while he or she holds office. Existing law requires such a mayor or county supervisor to obtain and review from the county clerk all available instructions for marriage solemnization before he or she first solemnizes a marriage. (Fam. Code Sec. 400.1.) This bill: 1)Authorizes a former member of the Legislature, constitutional officer of this state or a former member of Congress from this state to solemnize a marriage. 2)Authorizes a person who holds or formerly held a city or county elected office to solemnize a marriage. AB 2761 Page 3 3)Eliminates the requirement that before a county supervisor, mayor or city clerk of a charter city, as provided, may solemnize a marriage he or she must first obtain and review from the county clerk all available instructions for marriage solemnization. 4)Prohibits any of the elected persons from accepting compensation for solemnizing a marriage and prohibits those individuals from solemnizing a marriage if they have been removed from office due to committing an offense or have been convicted of a crime that involves moral turpitude, dishonesty, or fraud. Background A marriage is not valid unless it is solemnized by an authorized individual. Under existing law, marriages may be solemnized by authorized persons of any religious denomination, judges, commissioners, and magistrates. In 1998, this list was expanded to include California Legislators, constitutional officers, and members of Congress from California, during the time period that those individuals are holding office. (AB 1094, Committee on Judiciary, Chapter 932, Statutes of 1998). Subsequently, elected mayors, county supervisors, and city clerks were also authorized to solemnize marriage ceremonies, as long as they first receive training from the county clerk. (AB 2600, Ma & Lieu, Chapter 268, Statutes of 2010; SB 991, Runner, Chapter 63, Statutes of 2012; and Lowenthal Chapter 450, Statutes of 2014.) Additionally, the county clerk, who is statutorily designated as a commissioner of civil marriages in the county, may appoint deputy commissioners of civil marriage, who may solemnize marriages under the direction of the county clerk. Deputy commissioners of civil marriage are authorized to perform one marriage ceremony for one specified couple. The deputizing process varies slightly from county to county, but generally an AB 2761 Page 4 individual must receive instruction from the county clerk, pay a small fee, and be sworn in as a deputy commissioner of marriage before performing a ceremony. Seeking to create consistency among how those authorized to solemnize marriages are governed, this bill would expand the authority to perform marriages to all city and county elected officials and constitutional officers, and would eliminate the requirement that any elected official authorized to solemnize marriages first receive instruction from the county clerk. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/16) None received OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author writes: Not only do legislators have the opportunity to enact policies to improve our state, they also have the opportunity to solemnize weddings. It's a unique opportunity that only a select few are able to perform. However, legislators are only able to do this while they are in office. Should a sitting member of the Legislature wish to officiate a wedding after his or her term in office, one would have to register with a county office to become a "deputy for the day," pay a fee to the county office, and in some cases, attend a class. The law is inconsistent as it allows a retired California AB 2761 Page 5 judge or commissioner and a retired US judge or magistrate to solemnize a wedding even after they've left their judgeship. This bill simply brings uniformity to the Family Code, allowing a former member of the California Legislature or constitutional officer, or former Member of Congress to officiate a wedding. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/9/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines, Eduardo Garcia Prepared by: Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113 8/19/16 18:44:35 **** END ****