Duties as to Marriages

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Clerks of Courts
  4. County Clerks
  5. Duties as to Marriages

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  1. The county clerk has the following duties as to marriages:
    1. To endorse on or append to the marriage license the form of the return; and
    2. To register, in a well-bound book, the names of the parties, and the date of the issuance of a marriage license, and to copy immediately, under or opposite thereto, the return of the proper functionary who solemnized the rites of matrimony, with the date thereof, and file and retain the license and return thereof in such clerk's office or other suitable facility.
  2. The records described in subdivision (a)(2) are public records.
  3. As used in this section, “suitable facility” means a facility that stores local government records securely against theft and natural disasters.

Code 1858, § 4073 (deriv. Acts 1815, ch. 47, § 1; 1837-1838, ch. 118, § 2); Shan., § 5888; Code 1932, § 10087; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 22, 36; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 18-607; Acts 1993, ch. 418, § 1; 2019, ch. 79, §§ 1, 2.

Amendments. The 2019 amendment  added “or other suitable facility” at the end of (a)(2); and added (c).

Effective Dates. Acts 2019, ch. 79, § 4. April 3, 2019.

Cross-References. Confidentiality of public records, §10-7-504.

Law Reviews.

The Tennessee Court System — The County Court, 8 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 419.

Attorney General Opinions. Authority of county clerks to examine qualifications of persons who solemnize marriages, OAG 97-139 (10/09/97).

Collateral References. Clerks of Courts 69.


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