Bill Text: CA SB575 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Marriage: underage marriage.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2024-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 984, Statutes of 2024. [SB575 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB575-Chaptered.html
Senate Bill
No. 575
CHAPTER 984
An act to amend Section 102356 of, to add Section 102250 to, and to add and repeal Section 102233.1 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to underage marriage.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 29, 2024.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 29, 2024.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 575, Wahab.
Marriage: underage marriage.
Existing law requires the State Registrar to create a document, no later than March 1, 2020, with annual updates, containing information received by a local registrar concerning marriage certificates in which one or both of the parties were minors at the time of solemnization of the marriage. Existing law requires the local registrar, at least annually, to submit information, as specified, to the State Registrar for those purposes. Under existing law, a local registrar is not required to submit this information to the State Registrar if the local registrar did not receive a copy of the court order, as specified.
This bill would remove that exception and require a local registrar to submit information to the State Registrar, as specified. By
increasing the reporting requirements for local registrars, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require the State Registrar to create a report containing the number of marriage certificates that were submitted by a local registrar, as specified. This bill would require the State Registrar, on or before September 1, 2027, to publish the report on its internet website and submit the report to the Legislature. The bill would repeal this provision on January 1, 2028. This bill would also require the State Registrar, subject to an
appropriation, to establish a grant program to study extralegal marriages, as defined. The bill would require a report completed through the grant program to address the prevalence of, conditions of, and circumstances surrounding extralegal marriages in the state, as specified.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 102233.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:102233.1.
(a) (1) The State Registrar shall create a report, disaggregated by county, containing the number of marriage certificates that were transmitted to the State Registrar by a local registrar pursuant to Section 102355 each year between 2019 and 2024, inclusive, in which one or both of the parties were minors at the time of solemnization of the marriage.(2) The report shall itemize, for each marriage, the ages of each party to the marriage and the gender of each party, if available.
(b) Every marriage in which one or both of the parties were minors at the time of solemnization of the marriage shall be counted in the report, whether the marriage was submitted
to the State Registrar by a local registrar pursuant to Section 102356.
(c) The report shall not contain the names, addresses, or other personal identifying information of parties to a marriage certificate or information identifying a marriage certificate. The report shall not contain a marriage certificate or, if applicable, a copy of the court order described in Section 304 of the Family Code.
(d) The report shall compare the total number of marriage certificates counted pursuant to subdivision (a) to the number of marriages reported by each county, each year, pursuant to Section 102356.
(e) (1) On or before
September 1, 2027, the State Registrar shall publish the report on its internet website and submit a copy of the report to the Legislature and the relevant policy committees.
(2) The State Registrar shall submit the report required in paragraph (1) in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 2.
Section 102250 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:102250.
(a) (1) The State Registrar shall, upon appropriation, establish a grant program for the purpose of studying extralegal marriages involving minors in the state.(2) An “extralegal marriage involving minors” means a marriage in which one or both of the parties is under 18 years of age, and the marriage was not solemnized in accordance with the laws of this state, including, but not limited to, circumstances in which no marriage license was applied for, no marriage certificate was returned, or court approval was not sought.
(b) (1) A report completed through the grant program shall address the prevalence of, conditions of, and circumstances
surrounding extralegal marriages in the state and include both qualitative and quantitative data.
(2) A report completed through the grant program shall not include personal identifying information about any person discussed in the report.
SEC. 3.
Section 102356 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:102356.
(a) For purposes of Section 102233, the local registrar of marriages shall submit to the State Registrar, at least annually, all of the following information concerning marriage certificates that are accepted for registration by them during the same calendar year and in which one or both of the parties were minors at the time of solemnization of the marriage:(1) The total number of those marriage certificates.
(2) Itemized for each of those marriage certificates, the age of each party at the time of solemnization of the marriage.
(3) Itemized for each of those marriage certificates, the gender of each party, if available.
(b) The information submitted to the State Registrar pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not contain the names, addresses, or other personal identifying information of parties to a marriage certificate or information identifying a marriage certificate. The information shall not contain a marriage certificate or a copy of the court order described in Section 304 of the Family Code.
(c) The local registrar of marriages shall not submit information described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a) if no marriage certificate described in subdivision (a) is accepted for registration by them during the same calendar year.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, no earlier than two years after the local registrar of marriages submits the information described in subdivision (a) to the State
Registrar, the local registrar may dispose of that information.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, immediately after the local registrar of marriages submits the information described in subdivision (a) to the State Registrar, the local registrar may dispose of the copy of the court order received from the person solemnizing the marriage pursuant to Section 423 of the Family Code.
(e) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the State Department of Public Health may implement this section through an all-county letter or similar instruction from the State Registrar without taking regulatory action.
