As Introduced                            1            

123rd General Assembly                                             4            

   Regular Session                                H. B. No. 519    5            

      1999-2000                                                    6            


 REPRESENTATIVES WILLIAMS-CATES-NETZLEY-HOOD-SCHULER-VAN VYVEN-    8            

      JOLIVETTE-GRENDELL-HOOPS-TAYLOR-COUGHLIN-ROMAN-ALLEN         9            


_________________________________________________________________   10           

                          A   B I L L                                           

             To amend section 3101.05 and to enact section         12           

                3101.051 of the Revised Code to eliminate the      13           

                requirement that social security numbers be        14           

                included on marriage licenses and to require                    

                probate courts, except under certain               15           

                circumstances, to delete social security numbers   16           

                and maiden names of the mothers of the parties to               

                a marriage from records pertaining to marriage     17           

                licenses when those records are requested.         18           




BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:        20           

      Section 1.  That section 3101.05 be amended and section      23           

3101.051 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:        24           

      Sec. 3101.05.  (A)  The parties to a marriage shall make an  34           

application for a marriage license not less than five nor more     35           

than thirty days before a license is issued.  Each of the persons  36           

seeking a marriage license shall personally appear in the probate  37           

court within the county where either resides, or, if neither is a  38           

resident of this state, where the marriage is expected to be       39           

solemnized.   If neither party is a resident of this state, the    40           

marriage may be solemnized only in the county where the license    41           

is obtained.  Each party shall make application and shall state    42           

upon oath, the party's name, age, residence, place of birth,       44           

occupation, social security number, father's name, and mother's    45           

maiden name, if known, and the name of the person who is expected  46           

to solemnize the marriage.  If either party has been previously    47           

                                                          2      


                                                                 
married, the application shall include the names of the parties    48           

to any previous marriage and of any minor children, and if         49           

divorced the jurisdiction, date, and case number of the decree.    50           

If either applicant is under the age of eighteen years, the judge  51           

shall require the applicants to state that they received marriage  52           

counseling satisfactory to the court.                                           

      Immediately upon receipt of an application for a marriage    54           

license, the court shall place the parties' record in a book kept  55           

for that purpose.  After the expiration of five and not more than  56           

thirty days from the date of the application, if the probate       57           

judge is satisfied that there is no legal impediment and if one    58           

or both of the parties are present, the probate judge shall grant  60           

the marriage license.                                              61           

      If the judge is satisfied from the affidavit of a reputable  63           

physician in active practice and residing in the county where the  65           

probate court is located, that one of the parties is unable to     66           

appear in court, by reason of illness or other physical            67           

disability, a marriage license may be granted upon application     68           

and oath of the other party to the contemplated marriage; but in   69           

that case the person who is unable to appear in court, at the      71           

time of making application for a marriage license, shall make and  72           

file in that court, an affidavit setting forth the information     74           

required of applicants for a marriage license.  For good cause     75           

shown, the probate judge may waive this section with respect to    76           

the period between the application and the issuance of a marriage  77           

license and may grant the marriage license at any time after the   78           

application.                                                                    

      Each A marriage license issued shall include NOT DISPLAY     81           

the social security number of each EITHER party to the marriage,   82           

as stated on the marriage license application.                                  

      (B)  An applicant for a marriage license who knowingly       84           

makes a false statement in an application or affidavit prescribed  86           

by this section is guilty of falsification under section 2921.13   87           

of the Revised Code.                                                            

                                                          3      


                                                                 
      (C)  No licensing officer shall issue a marriage license if  89           

the officer has not received the application, affidavit, or other  91           

statements prescribed by this section or if the officer has        92           

reason to believe that any of the statements in a marriage         93           

license application or in an affidavit prescribed by this section  94           

is false.                                                          95           

      (D)  Any fine collected for violation of this section shall  97           

be paid to the use of the county together with the costs of        98           

prosecution.                                                       99           

      Sec. 3101.051.  UPON RECEIVING A REQUEST FOR RECORDS         101          

PERTAINING TO THE ISSUANCE OF MARRIAGE LICENSES, A PROBATE COURT   102          

SHALL FURNISH COPIES OF THE RECORDS AS PROVIDED UNDER SECTION      103          

149.43 OF THE REVISED CODE, EXCEPT THAT THE COURT SHALL DELETE OR  105          

OTHERWISE REMOVE ANY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND THE MAIDEN NAMES  106          

OF THE MOTHERS OF THE PARTIES TO A MARRIAGE SO THAT THEY ARE NOT   107          

AVAILABLE TO THE PERSON REQUESTING THE RECORDS.  THIS SECTION      108          

DOES NOT APPLY IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES:              109          

      (A)  THE RECORDS ARE REQUESTED BY THE DIVISION OF CHILD      111          

SUPPORT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES UNDER SECTION 5101.31  112          

OF THE REVISED CODE.                                               113          

      (B)  THE RECORDS ARE REQUESTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL  115          

FOR PURPOSES OF A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.                          116          

      (C)  THE RECORDS WITH THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND        118          

MOTHERS' MAIDEN NAMES ARE NECESSARY FOR USE IN A CIVIL OR          119          

CRIMINAL TRIAL IF THE RELEASE OF THE RECORDS WITH THE SOCIAL       120          

SECURITY NUMBERS AND MOTHERS' MAIDEN NAMES IS ORDERED BY A COURT   121          

WITH JURISDICTION OVER THE TRIAL.                                               

      (D)  THE RECORDS ARE REQUESTED BY EITHER PARTY TO THE        123          

MARRIAGE TO WHICH THE RECORDS PERTAIN.                             124          

      Section 2.  That existing section 3101.05 of the Revised     127          

Code is hereby repealed.