BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 875|
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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
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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
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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.
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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)
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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
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Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
8/5/16 10:58:16
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