S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2901
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 1, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  LEVENBERG  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law, in relation  to  designating
   lay   individuals  to  solemnize  marriages;  and  to  repeal  certain
   provisions of the executive law related thereto

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Subdivisions 1, 2, 3-a and 3-b of section 11 of the domes-
 tic relations law, subdivisions 1, 2 and 3-a as amended and  subdivision
 3-b  as  added  by  a  chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the domestic
 relations law and the executive law relating to designating lay individ-
 uals to solemnize marriages, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.
 739-A and A.  6300-A, are amended to read as follows:
   1. A clergyman or minister of any religion, or by the  senior  leader,
 or  any  of the other leaders, of The Society for Ethical Culture in the
 city of New York, having its principal office in the borough of  Manhat-
 tan,  or  by  the  leader  of  The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture,
 having its principal office in the borough of Brooklyn of  the  city  of
 New  York,  or  of the Westchester Ethical Society, having its principal
 office in Westchester county, or of the Ethical Culture Society of  Long
 Island,  having  its principal office in Nassau county, or of the River-
 dale-Yonkers Ethical Society having its principal office in Bronx  coun-
 ty,  or  by  the  leader of any other Ethical Culture Society affiliated
 with the American Ethical Union; provided that no clergyman or  minister
 as  defined in section two of the religious corporations law, or Society
 for Ethical Culture leader shall be required to solemnize  any  marriage
 when acting in his or her capacity under this subdivision.
   1-A. A refusal by a clergyman or minister as defined in section two of
 the religious corporations law, or Society for Ethical Culture leader to
 solemnize  any  marriage under this subdivision shall not create a civil
 claim or cause of action or result in  any  state  or  local  government
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03960-01-3
              

 A. 2901                             2
 
 action to penalize, withhold benefits or discriminate against such cler-
 gyman or minister[; or,].
   2.  The  current  or a former governor, a mayor of a village, a county
 executive of a county, or a mayor,  recorder,  city  magistrate,  police
 justice or police magistrate of a city, a former mayor or the city clerk
 of  a  city of the first class of over one million inhabitants or any of
 his or her deputies or not more than four regular clerks, designated  by
 him  or  her  for  such  purpose as provided in section eleven-a of this
 article, except that in cities which contain more than one hundred thou-
 sand and less than one million inhabitants, a marriage shall  be  solem-
 nized  by  the mayor, or police justice, and by no other officer of such
 city, except as provided in subdivisions one and three of this section[;
 or,].
   3-a. A judge or peacemaker judge of any Indian tribal court, a  chief,
 a  headman,  or any member of any tribal council or other governing body
 of any nation, tribe or band of Indians in this state duly designated by
 such body for the purpose of officiating  at  marriages,  or  any  other
 persons  duly  designated  by such body, in keeping with the culture and
 traditions of any such nation, tribe or band of Indians in  this  state,
 to officiate at marriages[; or,].
   3-b.  A one-day marriage officiant, as designated by [the secretary of
 state pursuant to section one hundred ten of the executive law]  A  TOWN
 OR CITY CLERK PURSUANT TO SECTION ELEVEN-D OF THIS ARTICLE; or,
   § 2. Section 12 of the domestic relations law, as amended by a chapter
 of  the  laws of 2022 amending the domestic relations law and the execu-
 tive law relating to designating lay individuals to solemnize marriages,
 as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 739-A and  A.    6300-A,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   §  12.    Marriage, how solemnized.  No particular form or ceremony is
 required when a marriage is solemnized as herein provided by  a  clergy-
 man[,]  OR  magistrate,  or  one-day marriage officiant as designated by
 [the secretary of state pursuant to section one hundred ten of the exec-
 utive law] A TOWN OR CITY CLERK PURSUANT TO  SECTION  ELEVEN-D  OF  THIS
 ARTICLE,  but  the  parties  must  solemnly declare in the presence of a
 clergyman, magistrate,  or  SUCH  one-day  marriage  officiant  and  the
 attending  witness or witnesses that they take each other as spouses. In
 every case, at least one witness beside the  clergyman,  magistrate,  or
 SUCH one-day marriage officiant must be present at the ceremony.
   The preceding provisions of this chapter, so far as they relate to the
 manner  of  solemnizing  marriages, shall not affect marriages among the
 people called friends or quakers; nor marriages among the people of  any
 other  denominations  having  as such any particular mode of solemnizing
 marriages; but such marriages must be solemnized in the  manner  hereto-
 fore  used and practiced in their respective societies or denominations,
 and marriages so solemnized shall be as valid as if this article had not
 been enacted.
   § 3. Section 13 of the domestic relations law, as amended by a chapter
 of the laws of 2022 amending the domestic relations law and  the  execu-
 tive law relating to designating lay individuals to solemnize marriages,
 as  proposed  in  legislative  bills numbers S. 739-A and A.  6300-A, is
 amended to read as follows:
   § 13. Marriage  licenses.  It  shall  be  necessary  for  all  persons
 intended  to  be  married in New York state to obtain a marriage license
 from a town or city clerk in New York state and to deliver said license,
 within sixty days, to the clergyman,  magistrate,  or  one-day  marriage
 officiant  as  designated by [the secretary of state pursuant to section
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 one hundred ten of the executive law] A TOWN OR CITY CLERK  PURSUANT  TO
 SECTION ELEVEN-D OF THIS ARTICLE who is to officiate before the marriage
 ceremony  may be performed. In case of a marriage contracted pursuant to
 subdivision  four  of section eleven of this chapter, such license shall
 be delivered to the judge  of  the  court  of  record  before  whom  the
 acknowledgment  is  to be taken. If either party to the marriage resides
 upon an island located not less than twenty-five miles from  the  office
 or  residence  of  the  town clerk of the town of which such island is a
 part, and if such office or residence is not on such island such license
 may be obtained from any justice of the peace residing on  such  island,
 and  such  justice, in respect to powers and duties relating to marriage
 licenses, shall be subject to the provisions of this  article  governing
 town  clerks and shall file all statements or affidavits received by him
 while acting under the provisions of this section with the town clerk of
 such town. No application for a marriage license shall be denied on  the
 ground that the parties are of the same, or a different, sex.
   § 4. Section 13-b of the domestic relations law, as amended by a chap-
 ter  of  the  laws  of  2022 amending the domestic relations law and the
 executive law relating  to  designating  lay  individuals  to  solemnize
 marriages,  as  proposed  in  legislative  bills numbers S. 739-A and A.
 6300-A, is amended to read as follows:
   § 13-b. Time within which marriage may be solemnized. A marriage shall
 not be solemnized within twenty-four hours after  the  issuance  of  the
 marriage  license, unless authorized by an order of a court of record as
 hereinafter provided, nor shall it be solemnized after sixty  days  from
 the  date  of  the  issuance  of  the marriage license unless authorized
 pursuant to section three hundred fifty-four-d  of  the  executive  law.
 Every  license  to  marry  hereafter  issued by a town or city clerk, in
 addition to other requirements specified by this chapter, must contain a
 statement of the day and the hour the license is issued and  the  period
 during which the marriage may be solemnized. It shall be the duty of the
 clergyman,  magistrate,  or one-day marriage officiant, as designated by
 [the secretary  of state pursuant to section  one  hundred  ten  of  the
 executive law] A TOWN OR CITY CLERK PURSUANT TO SECTION ELEVEN-D OF THIS
 ARTICLE,  performing the marriage ceremony, or if the marriage is solem-
 nized by written contract, of the judge  before  whom  the  contract  is
 acknowledged,  to annex to or endorse upon the marriage license the date
 and hour the marriage is solemnized. A judge or justice of  the  supreme
 court  of  this  state or the county judge of the county in which either
 party to be married resides, or the judge of the family  court  of  such
 county,  if  it  shall appear from an examination of the license and any
 other proofs submitted by the parties that one  of  the  parties  is  in
 danger  of imminent death, or by reason of other emergency public inter-
 est will be promoted thereby, or that such delay will  work  irreparable
 injury  or  great hardship upon the contracting parties, or one of them,
 may, make an  order  authorizing  the  immediate  solemnization  of  the
 marriage  and  upon filing such order with the clergyman, magistrate, or
 one-day marriage officiant performing the marriage ceremony, or  if  the
 marriage  is to be solemnized by written contract, with the judge before
 whom the contract is acknowledged, such clergyman,  magistrate  or  SUCH
 one-day  marriage  officiant  may solemnize such marriage, or such judge
 may take such acknowledgment as the case may  be,  without  waiting  for
 such three day period and twenty-four hour period to elapse. The clergy-
 man,  magistrate,  judge, or SUCH  one-day marriage officiant, as desig-
 nated by [the secretary of state pursuant to section one hundred ten  of
 the  executive law] A TOWN OR CITY CLERK PURSUANT TO SECTION ELEVEN-D OF
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 THIS  ARTICLE,  must  file  such  order  with the town or city clerk who
 issued the license within five days after the  marriage  is  solemnized.
 Such  town  or  city  clerk  must record and index the order in the book
 required  to be kept by him or her for recording affidavits, statements,
 consents and licenses, and when so recorded the  order  shall  become  a
 public  record  and  available  in any prosecution under this section. A
 person who shall solemnize a marriage in violation of this section shall
 be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished
 by a fine of fifty dollars for each offense, and  in  addition  thereto,
 his  or  her right to solemnize a marriage shall be suspended for ninety
 days.
   § 5. Section 110 of the executive law, as added by a  chapter  of  the
 laws  of  2022 amending the domestic relations law and the executive law
 relating to designating  lay  individuals  to  solemnize  marriages,  as
 proposed  in  legislative  bills  numbers  S.  739-A and A.   6300-A, is
 REPEALED.
   § 6. The domestic relations law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
 11-d to read as follows:
   §  11-D.  ONE-DAY  MARRIAGE OFFICIANT LICENSE. 1. A TOWN OR CITY CLERK
 SHALL ISSUE A ONE-DAY MARRIAGE  OFFICIANT  LICENSE  UPON  REQUEST.  SUCH
 ONE-DAY  MARRIAGE  OFFICIANT  SHALL  HAVE  THE  AUTHORITY TO SOLEMNIZE A
 MARRIAGE WHICH MARRIAGE SHALL BE VALID IF PERFORMED IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH
 OTHER  PROVISIONS  OF  LAW.  NOTHING  HEREIN CONTAINED SHALL NULLIFY THE
 AUTHORITY OF OTHER PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGES.
   2. SUCH ONE-DAY MARRIAGE OFFICIANT SHALL BE EIGHTEEN YEARS OF  AGE  OR
 OVER  AND NEED NOT BE A RESIDENT OF THE TOWN OR CITY TO WHICH THEY APPLY
 OR A RESIDENT OF THE STATE. A ONE-DAY MARRIAGE OFFICIANT SHALL HAVE  THE
 AUTHORITY TO SOLEMNIZE A MARRIAGE ANYWHERE IN THE STATE.
   3.  AN  APPLICANT  FOR A ONE-DAY MARRIAGE OFFICIANT LICENSE MUST APPLY
 FOR SUCH LICENSE IN THE SAME TOWN OR CITY CLERK'S OFFICE AS  THE  COUPLE
 TO  BE  MARRIED.    SUCH  APPLICANT  SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO PERSONALLY
 APPEAR.
   4. A TOWN OR CITY CLERK SHALL BE ENTITLED  TO  A  FEE  OF  TWENTY-FIVE
 DOLLARS  FOR  ISSUING A ONE-DAY MARRIAGE OFFICIANT LICENSE. SUCH LICENSE
 SHALL BE ISSUED ONLY AFTER PAYMENT OF  SUCH  FEE  AND  SUBMISSION  OF  A
 COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM.
   5. THE APPLICATION FORM SHALL REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION OF THE
 APPLICANT:    NAME,  DATE OF BIRTH, ADDRESS, EMAIL ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE
 NUMBER. THE APPLICATION FORM SHALL ALSO REQUIRE THE  FOLLOWING  INFORMA-
 TION  OF THE PARTIES TO BE MARRIED: NAMES, DATES OF BIRTH, AND ADDRESSES
 AS THEY APPEAR ON THE APPLICATION FOR A MARRIAGE LICENSE.
   6. SUCH LICENSE SHALL ONLY BE VALID FOR THE PARTIES TO BE  MARRIED  AS
 STATED  ON  THE  APPLICATION AND SHALL EXPIRE UPON THE EARLIER OF EITHER
 COMPLETION OF SUCH SOLEMNIZATION  OR  THE  EXPIRATION  OF  THE  MARRIAGE
 LICENSE.
   7.  ONE-DAY  MARRIAGE  OFFICIANTS SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM REGISTRATION AS
 REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SECTION ELEVEN-B OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 7. This act shall take effect on the  same  date  and  in  the  same
 manner  as a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the domestic relations
 law and the executive law relating to  designating  lay  individuals  to
 solemnize  marriages,  as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 739-A
 and A. 6300-A, takes effect.