As Passed by the House                        1            

123rd General Assembly                                             4            

   Regular Session                       Am. Sub. H. B. No. 519    5            

      1999-2000                                                    6            


      REPRESENTATIVES WILLIAMS-CATES-NETZLEY-HOOD-SCHULER-         9            

    VAN VYVEN-JOLIVETTE-GRENDELL-HOOPS-TAYLOR-COUGHLIN-ROMAN-                   

 ALLEN-SALERNO-WOMER BENJAMIN-WILLAMOWSKI-SULLIVAN-CAREY-BUCHY-    10           

DAMSCHRODER-TIBERI-HARRIS-JAMES-KRUPINSKI-BOYD-HOLLISTER-MOTTLEY-  11           

                AMSTUTZ-FLANNERY-PRINGLE-BARRETT                   12           


_________________________________________________________________   13           

                          A   B I L L                                           

             To amend section 3101.05 and to enact section         15           

                3101.051 of the Revised Code to eliminate the      16           

                requirement that social security numbers be        17           

                included on marriage licenses and to require                    

                probate courts, except under certain               18           

                circumstances, to delete social security numbers   19           

                of the parties to a marriage from records          20           

                pertaining to marriage licenses when those         21           

                records are made available for inspection by the                

                public.                                                         




BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:        23           

      Section 1.  That section 3101.05 be amended and section      26           

3101.051 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:        27           

      Sec. 3101.05.  (A)  The parties to a marriage shall make an  37           

application for a marriage license not less than five nor more     38           

than thirty days before a license is issued.  Each of the persons  39           

seeking a marriage license shall personally appear in the probate  40           

court within the county where either resides, or, if neither is a  41           

resident of this state, where the marriage is expected to be       42           

solemnized.   If neither party is a resident of this state, the    43           

marriage may be solemnized only in the county where the license    44           

is obtained.  Each party shall make application and shall state    45           

                                                          2      


                                                                 
upon oath, the party's name, age, residence, place of birth,       47           

occupation, social security number, father's name, and mother's    48           

maiden name, if known, and the name of the person who is expected  49           

to solemnize the marriage.  If either party has been previously    50           

married, the application shall include the names of the parties    51           

to any previous marriage and of any minor children, and if         52           

divorced the jurisdiction, date, and case number of the decree.    53           

If either applicant is under the age of eighteen years, the judge  54           

shall require the applicants to state that they received marriage  55           

counseling satisfactory to the court.                                           

      Immediately upon receipt of an application for a marriage    57           

license, the court shall place the parties' record in a book kept  58           

for that purpose.  After the expiration of five and not more than  59           

thirty days from the date of the application, if the probate       60           

judge is satisfied that there is no legal impediment and if one    61           

or both of the parties are present, the probate judge shall grant  63           

the marriage license.                                              64           

      If the judge is satisfied from the affidavit of a reputable  66           

physician in active practice and residing in the county where the  68           

probate court is located, that one of the parties is unable to     69           

appear in court, by reason of illness or other physical            70           

disability, a marriage license may be granted upon application     71           

and oath of the other party to the contemplated marriage; but in   72           

that case the person who is unable to appear in court, at the      74           

time of making application for a marriage license, shall make and  75           

file in that court, an affidavit setting forth the information     77           

required of applicants for a marriage license.  For good cause     78           

shown, the probate judge may waive this section with respect to    79           

the period between the application and the issuance of a marriage  80           

license and may grant the marriage license at any time after the   81           

application.                                                                    

      Each A marriage license issued shall include NOT DISPLAY     84           

the social security number of each EITHER party to the marriage,   85           

as stated on the marriage license application.                                  

                                                          3      


                                                                 
      (B)  An applicant for a marriage license who knowingly       87           

makes a false statement in an application or affidavit prescribed  89           

by this section is guilty of falsification under section 2921.13   90           

of the Revised Code.                                                            

      (C)  No licensing officer shall issue a marriage license if  92           

the officer has not received the application, affidavit, or other  94           

statements prescribed by this section or if the officer has        95           

reason to believe that any of the statements in a marriage         96           

license application or in an affidavit prescribed by this section  97           

is false.                                                          98           

      (D)  Any fine collected for violation of this section shall  100          

be paid to the use of the county together with the costs of        101          

prosecution.                                                       102          

      Sec. 3101.051.  A PROBATE COURT SHALL MAKE AVAILABLE TO ANY  104          

PERSON FOR INSPECTION THE RECORDS PERTAINING TO THE ISSUANCE OF    106          

MARRIAGE LICENSES AS PROVIDED UNDER SECTION 149.43 OF THE REVISED  107          

CODE, EXCEPT THAT THE COURT SHALL DELETE OR OTHERWISE REMOVE ANY   109          

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF THE PARTIES TO A MARRIAGE SO THAT THEY  112          

ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PERSON INSPECTING THE RECORDS.  THIS      113          

SECTION DOES NOT APPLY IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES:      114          

      (A)  THE RECORDS ARE INSPECTED BY AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL OF    116          

THE DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES  118          

UNDER SECTION 5101.31 OF THE REVISED CODE.                         119          

      (B)  THE RECORDS ARE INSPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL  121          

FOR PURPOSES OF A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.                          122          

      (C)  THE RECORDS WITH THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS ARE        125          

NECESSARY FOR USE IN A CIVIL OR CRIMINAL TRIAL IF THE RELEASE OF   126          

THE RECORDS WITH THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS IS ORDERED BY A       127          

COURT WITH JURISDICTION OVER THE TRIAL.                                         

      (D)  THE RECORDS ARE INSPECTED BY EITHER PARTY TO THE        129          

MARRIAGE TO WHICH THE RECORDS PERTAIN.                             130          

      Section 2.  That existing section 3101.05 of the Revised     133          

Code is hereby repealed.