BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2761|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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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.
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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
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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
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