BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 875| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 875 Author: Gaines (R) Amended: 8/1/16 Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 5/3/16 AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski NO VOTE RECORDED: Hertzberg SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 5/12/16 (Consent) AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Runner ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/16/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Solemnization of marriage: county sheriff SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill expands who may solemnize marriages in California to include county sheriffs. Assembly Amendments incorporate additional changes in Section 400 of the Family Code proposed by AB 2761(Low), that become operative only if AB 2761 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is SB 875 Page 2 chaptered last. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires, for a marriage to be valid, the consent of the parties, followed by the issuance of a license and solemnization, as provided. (Fam. Code Sec. 300.) 2)Provides that a marriage may be solemnized by authorized persons of any religious denomination, by California legislators, constitutional officers and members of Congress, while those persons hold those offices, and by specified justices, judges, and magistrates, both current and retired. (Fam. Code Sec. 400.) 3)Provides that a county supervisor, elected mayor and city clerk, as specified, may solemnize a marriage while he or she holds that office. Further requires that the supervisor, mayor or city clerk must first obtain and review from the county clerk all available instructions for marriage solemnization before the supervisor, mayor or city clerk may solemnize a marriage. (Fam. Code Sec. 400.1.) 4)Provides that the county clerk is designated as a commissioner of civil marriages for each county. Allows the commissioner of civil marriages to appoint deputy commissioners of civil marriages who may solemnize marriages under the direction of the commissioner of civil marriages and perform other duties directed by the commissioner. (Fam. Code Sec. 401.) This bill: 1)Permits a county sheriff to solemnize a marriage. 2)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 SB 875 Page 3 from the county clerk all available instructions for marriage solemnization. 3)Adds chaptering out language for AB 2761 (Low) of the current legislative session. 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 2010; SB 991, Runner, Chapter 63, Statutes 2012; and Lowenthal Chapter 450, Statutes 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 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. Under current law, county supervisors are eligible to be deputized by county clerks as marriage commissioners. This bill eliminates the requirement that mayors, county supervisors, and city clerk receive training from the county clerk prior to solemnizing a marriage, and further authorizes county sheriffs to solemnize a marriage. This bill also adds language to address a chaptering-out issue with AB 2761(Low) which allows elected officials to solemnize marriage while holding office, as provided. SB 875 Page 4 Prior Legislation AB 1525 (Lowenthal, Chapter 450, Statutes 2014) authorized a city clerk to solemnize a marriage after the city clerk obtains and reviews from the county clerk all available instructions for marriage solemnization before the city clerk first solemnizes a marriage. SB 991 (Runner, Chapter 63, Statutes of 2012) See Background. AB 967 (Ma & Lieu, Chapter 268, Statutes 2010) would have authorized an elected mayor of a charter city, while that person holds that office, to solemnize a marriage ceremony. This bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. AB 2600 (Ma & Lieu, Chapter 268, Statutes 2010) authorized an elected mayor of a city, while in that office, to solemnize a marriage ceremony, after the mayor obtains and reviews from the county clerk all available instructions for marriage solemnization before the mayor first solemnizes a marriage. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified8/5/16) None received OPPOSITION: (Verified8/5/16) SB 875 Page 5 None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: In support of the bill, the author states: Sheriffs are faced daily with a multitude of difficult tasks. They are public servants who willingly put themselves in danger to keep our state and our citizens safe. They are community leaders and well-respected. In addition to some of the somber aspects of the job, county sheriffs would also like the ability to provide the joyful public service of marrying couples. Sheriffs would not be obligated to perform these ceremonies but would be given the option if they desire. Granting this option would honor men and women who sacrifice much for their constituents' safety. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/16/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, 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: Brough, Roger Hernández SB 875 Page 6 Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113 8/5/16 10:58:16 **** END ****