House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

Posted:	April 11, 2018 04:31 PM
From:	Representative Greg Rothman
To:	All House members
Subject:	Marriage License Exception for Hospitalization

I plan to introduce legislation to allow a person, who is unable to travel due to hospitalization, to obtain a marriage license without having to appear at the courthouse in person. Recently, I was contacted by an attorney in my district who had been retained for the purpose of petitioning the court to direct the Clerk of Courts to travel to the hospital where another constituent was on a ventilator, and thus, unable to apply for a marriage license in person. Having to hire an attorney to go through all of this struck me as an unnecessary and undue burden. Additionally, it is an incredible waste of money and time for both the constituent and the court. Under current law, there is an exception to the requirement that a marriage license applicant appear in person for those who are unavailable due to military service. The applicant must submit an affidavit, under oath, in lieu of appearing in person. I see no reason the same exception should not apply for persons who are unavailable due to hospitalization. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation.
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Introduced as HB2290