CHAPTER 318

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 20-14, 20-14.1, 20-16, 20-20, and 20-26
of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding
a section numbered 32-853.34, the amended and new sections relating
to marriage registers, reports to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and
racial requirements relating thereto; and to repeal §§ 20-17 through
20-19 and §§ 20-34 through 20-36 and §§ 20-50 through 20-60, relat-

ing generally to the same matters.
{fH 928]

Approved April 2, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 20-14, 20-14.1, 20-16, 20-20, and 20-26 of the Code of Virginia
be amended and reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be amended by
adding a section numbered 32-353.34 as follows:

§ 20-14. Every license for a marriage shall be issued by the clerk
of the circuit court of the county, or of the corporation court of the city
in which the female to be married usually resides, or his deputy; and in
case she is not a resident of the State, then by the clerk of * any court
authorized to issue marriage licenses in this State, or his deputy; or, if
the office of the clerk be vacant, or if from any cause neither the clerk
nor his deputy is able to issue the license, it may be issued by the judge
of the circuit court of such county, or of the corporation court of such
city, who shall make return thereof to the clerk as soon as there may
one.

§ 20-14.1. Every marriage license issued under § 20-14 shall con-
stitute authority for a period of only sixty days from the date of issuance
for the solemnization of a marriage of the licensees. Whenever such sixty-
day period shall have elapsed without the solemnization of a marriage of
the licensees, the license shall expire. *

The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prevent licen-
sees from applying for or receiving an additional license, either before or
after expiration of any license, but no new license shall be issued except
in compliance with all provisions of law applicable to the issuance of a
license in the first instance.

§ 20-16. The clerk issuing any marriage license shall before issuing
the license require the parties contemplating marriage to state, under
oath, or by affidavit or affidavits filed with him, made by the parties for
whom the application is made, before a person qualified to take acknowl-
edgments or administer oaths, * the information required to complete the
marriage record. Such clerk shall make two certificates thereof and
deliver them, together with the license, to the person entitled thereto. For
the purposes of this section any statement made by such applicant, under
oath, * concerning the information to be entered on the record is hereby
declared to be a material matter or thing in any prosecution for perjury
for any violation of this section.

§ 20-20. The clerk to whom the license and certificate are returned,
shall file and preserve the * original in his office, * and make an index of
the names of both of the parties married. *

When the certificates of such * person celebrating such marriage are
returned to the clerk, and recorded as provided in this section * and
§ $2-853.84, copies of the same properly certified by the clerk lawfully
having the custody thereof or properly certified by the State registrar of
vital statistics shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth
an all courts of this Commonwealth.

20-26. Marriages between persons belonging to any religious
society which has no ordained minister, may be solemnized by the persons
and in the manner prescribed by and practiced in any such society. One
person chosen by the society shall be responsible for completing the cer-
tification of marriage in the same manner as a minister or other person
authorized to perform marriages; such person chosen by the society for
on purpose shall be required to execute a bond under the provisions
O 20-28.

§ 32-353.34. (a) For each marriage performed in this state, a rec-
ord showing personal data for the married parties, the marriage license,
and the certifying statement of the facts of marriage shall be filed with
the State Registrar of Vital Statistics as provided in this section.

(b) The officer issuing a marriage license shall prepare the record
based on the information obtained from the parties to be married, who
shall attest to the information by their signatures on an application for
the marriage license or by affidavit(s) filed as prescribed by § 20-16.

(c) Every person who officiates at a marriage ceremony shall certify
to the facts of marriage and file the record in duplicate with the officer
who issued the marriage license within five days after the ceremony.

(d) Every officer issuing marriage licenses shall on or before the
tenth day of each calendar month forward to the State Registrar of Vital
Statistics a record of each marriage filed with him during the preceding
calendar month.

_. (e) The State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall prescribe and fur-
nish forms for the marriage license, marriage certificate, and application
for marriage license used in this State.

2. §§ 20-17 through 20-19 and §§ 20-34 through 20-36 and §§ 20-50
through 20-60 of the Code of Virginia are repealed.