Honorable J. R. Owen 

County Attorney 

Willlamson County 

Georgetown, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

OF-TEXAS 

November 27, 1959 

Opinion No. WW-751 

Re: Questions concerning House 

Bill 48, Acts 56th Legislature, Second Called Session, relating to certain 

conditions for the issuance 

of marriage licenses by the 

county clerk. 

You have requested an opinion concerning House Bill 

48, Acts 56th Legislature, Second Called Session, 1959, Chapter 

20, Page 113, on the following two questions: first, as to 

whether certain parts are in violation of Section 35, Article 

III of the Constitution of Texas, and secondly, as to whether 

the provisions in paragraph (a) of House Bill 48 that the returned marriage license shall be retained by the issuing clerk 

Is to be construed as mandatory on the clerk. 

The relevant Constltutiona~l provision Is as follows: 

"Sec. 35. No bill, (except. general appropriation bills, which may embrace the various 

subjects and accounts, for and on account of 

which moneys are appropriated) shall contain 

more than one subject, which shall be expressed in Its title. Wit if any subject shall be 

embraced in an act, which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void 

only as to so much thereof, as shall not be 

so expressed." 

The relevant portions of House Bill 48 are as fol-, 

lows: 

"An Act relating to the requirement of consent of parent or guardian of certain parties 

before said parties may marry or a marriage 

license be issued to them and relating further 

to the'issuance of marriage licenses by the 

county clerk after a prescribed period of three 

(3) days from the date of the filing of the application; amending Article 4605, Revised Civil 
Honorable J. R. Owen, page 2 (w-751) 

Statutes of Texas, 1925; providing the county 

judge may waive certain requirements; and declaring an emergency. 

"Pe it,enacted by the Legislature of the State 

of Texas: 

"Section 1. Article 4605 of the Revised 

Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, is amended to 

read as follows: 

'I Article 4605. Consent of parent or 

guardian and issuance of license. 

"'(a). An 

twenty-one (21 7 

unmarried male of the age of 

years or upwards, or any unmarried female of the age of eighteen (18) years 

or upwards and not otherwise disqualified, is 

capable of contracting and consenting to marrlage;~ 

but no female under the age of eighteen 18 years 

and no male under the age of twenty-one t 21 1 years 

shall enter Into the marriage relation, nor shall 

any license issue therefor , except upon the consent 

and authority expressly given by the parent or guardian of such underage applicant in the presence of 

the authority issuing such license; provided further 

that If the certificate of a duly licensed medical 

doctor or osteopath acknowledged before an officer 

authorized by law to take acknowledgments and stating that such parent or guardian Is unable by reason of health or Incapacity to be present in person, is presented to such licensing authority, 

the license may issue on the written consent of 

such parent or guardian, acknowledged In the same 

manner as the accompanying medical certificate. 

Any such certificate and written permission shall 

be retained by the officlal,issuing the marriage 

license, together with the returned license. . . . 

"l(b). The county clerk, upon application In 

writing signed and sworn to in person before him 

by both of the parties to be married setting forth 

their places of residence and setting forth their 

full names and ages as the same appear upon a certlfled copy of birth certificate, or upon a current 

motor vehicle operator's, chauffeur's, or commercial license or upon a current voter's registration certificate, or upon a current passport or 

visa or upon any other certificate, license or 
Honorabj Le J. R. Owen, 'Page 3 (w-751) 

ment by 

document issued by or existing pursuant to the 

laws of any nation or of any state or other governmental subdivision thereof, when each such document 

accepted as proof of identity and age is described 

with reasonable particularity in the application 

shall also set forth that such persons to be 

married are not disqualified or incapable of 

entering into the marriage relation, nor of 

the relationship prohibited by law, and being 

satisfied of the truth and sufficiency of such 

application and that there Is no legal impediment to such marriage, and after application for 

such marriage license has issued, shall issue 

the license authorizing such marriage; provided, 

however, that In the event the male party is 

under the age of twenty-one (21) years or the 

female party is under the age of eighteen (18) 

years such application shall have been on file 

in the County Clerk's office for a period of 

not less than three (3) days."' 

Article 4605, Vernon's Civil Statutes, before amendHouse Bill 48, reads as follows: 

"No clerk shall Issue a license without the 

consent of the parent or guardian of the parties 

applying, if there be a guardian. Such consent 

may be given in person, or in writing signed and 

acknowledged by said parent or guardian before an 

officer authorized to take acknowledgments, unless 

the parties so applying are, in the case of the male 

twenty-one years of age and In the case of the female 

eighteen years of age. If there be any doubt in the 

mind of the clerk, he shall not issue said license 

unless there shall be presented to him a sworn certificate from the parent or guardian or some person 

other than the contracting parties that the contracting parties have attained the ages aforesaid. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the issuance 

of marriage license in seduction prosecution. If 

a minor has neither parent nor guardian, then the 

clerk shall not issue a license without the consent 

of the county judge of the county of the residence 

of such minor, such consent to be in writing and 

signed and acknowledged by such county judge." 
Honorable J. R. Owen, page 4 (WW-751) 

As to your first inquiry, we quote from your request 

as follows: 

"Is that portion of H.B. #48 which applies 

to persons over 18 years of age, if female, and 

over 21 years of age, if male, valid or is same 

Invalid as being contrary to the provisions of 

section 35, Article 3 of the Texas Constitution? 

If said portion of H.B. #48 Is invalid, is all 

of section (b) of H.B. #48 invalid or are the 

provisions of section (b) of H.B. #48 In so far 

as applicable to male persons under the age of 

21 years and female persons under the age of 

18 years?" 

The purpose of Section 35, Article III of the Texas 

Constitution in requiring a caption expressing the subject of 

the bill Is to enable interested persons to be reasonably apprised of the contents of the bill upon a reading merely of the 

bill18 title. Schlichting v. Texas State Hoard of Medical 

Examiners, Tex . 310 S.W.2d 557 (19%). This purpose 

may be accosished bycaption couched in broad and general 

terms so long as it remains reasonably informative of what follows in the body of the bill. 

tion District, 284 S.W.2d 275 

Atwood v. Willacy County Naviga- 

(Civ.A kerror), 

Where, as in the case of House Bill 

amendatory of a prior article, 

a: the bill in auestion is 

the caption will be adequate though 

merely naming the prior article and stating that the article is 

amended by the present bill, provided that the provisions of the 

amendatory bill are germane to the amended article. Schllchting v. 

Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, supra. See Board of Water 

Engineers v. City of San Antonio, 155 Tex. 111, 283 S.W.2d '722 

11955). If the caption of an amendatory bill contains, in addition, explicit reference to certain provisions in the bill, then 

the caption is adequate as to those provisions without regard to 

the rule requiring that amendatory provisions be germane to the 

amended article. 

(1958). 

Shannon v. Rogers, - Tex. -, 314 S.W.2d 810 

The purpose of House Bill 48 Is to establish certain 

conditions, among them the requirement of parental consent, which 

must be met to the satisfaction of the County Clerk before he is 

authorized to issue a marriage license. Admittedly the requirement of parental consent, set forth in paragraph (a) of House 

Bill 48, applies only to such underage 

visions of paragraph (b) of House Bill fi 

ersons, while the pro8 (except for the provlso appended at the end of paragraph (b)) apply without restriction as to age. These provisions of paragraph (b), except 
. . 

Honorable J. R. Owen, page 5, (W-751) 

for the portions dealing with ascertaining the absence of legal 

disqualification of the parties or prohibition of the marriage, 

establish a procedure -- namely, the presentation of documents 

establishing the applicant's age and identity -- by which the 

clerk is enabled to ascertain whether the requirement of parental consent is applicable. A similar but less detailed procedure 

directed toward the same end, likewise applicable without regard to age, is provided for by Article 4605: 

II 

, . . If there be any doubt in the mind of 

the clerk, he shall not Issue said license unless there shall be presented to him a sworn 

certlffcate from the parent or guardian or some 

person other than the contracting parties that 

the contracting tarties have attained the ages 

aforesaid. . . . 

In light of the presence in the amended Article of 

this provision identical in purpose with, and similar in other 

respects to, the questioned provisions of the amendatory bill, 

it is our opinion that the latter provisions are germane to the 

amended article. Since, further the caption of House Bill 48 

contains a reference to Article 4605, the caption satisfies 

the requirement of Section 35, Article III of the Constitution 

as to these provisions of House Bill 48. 

Of paragraph (b), this leaves unaccounted-for only 

the portion dealing with ascertainment of absence of legal disqualification or prohibition as a condition for issuance of a 

license, viz., "The county clerk . . . shall also set forth 

that such persons to be married are not .dlsquallfied or incapable 

of entering Into the marriage relation, nor of the relationship 

prohibited by law, and being satisfied . . . that there is no 

legal impediment to such marriagz, . . . shall issue the license 

authorizing such marriage; . . . (No question has been raised 

as to the construction of the phrase "nor of the relationship 

prohibited by law", but although its meaning in this context is 

not clear, the subject with which this phrase is Intended to 

deal Is apparent.) The purpose and effect of Article 4605 before amendment, like that of House Bill 48, is to establish 

certain conditions which must be met and procedures which must 

be followed before the County Clerk is authorized to issue a 

marriage license. Accordingly, it is our opinion that the caption of House Bill 48 in mentioning Article 4605 is sufficient 

to give fair notice of provisions such as the one just mentioned, since this provision establishes a procedure which the Clerk 

must follow before Issuing a license and is therefore germane to 

the amended article, notwithstanding that this particular procedure is not among those which the amended article establishes. 

Schlichting v. Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, supra. 
. . . 

Honorable J. R. Owen, Page 6, (W+'-7'51) 

As to 

that House Bill % 

our second inquiry, we are of the opinion 

8, in stating "Any such Lf;hysician'g certificate and written permission shall be retained by the official issuing the marriage license, together with the returned 

license" (emphasis added), does not direct the Clerk to retain 

the returned marriane license, but merely evidences a presupposition by the Legisla&re that the Clerk has heretofore followed 

a practice of retaining the license. In fact, the Clerk is and 

has heretofore been under a duty; imposed by Article 6596, 

Vernon's Civil Statutes, to return the license after its recordation "to the party entitled thereto", which in the case of a 

marriage license is a party to the marriage which the license 

authorizes. Attorney General's Opinion 0-4624 (1942). Article 

6596 is as follows: 

"Every such instrument shall be considered 

as recorded from the time it was deposited for 

record; and the clerk shall certify under his 

hand and seal of office to every such Instrument 

of writing so recorded, the hour, day, month and 

year when he recorded it, and the book and page 

or pages in which It is recorded; and when recorded deliver the same to the party entitled 

thereto." 

Recordation of the marriage license is required by Article 4606, 

Vernon's Civil Statutes: 

"The clerk shall record all licenses so .%asued by him in a well bound book kept for that 

purpose. It shall be the duty of the person 

solemnizing the rites of matrimony to indorse 

the same on the license and return it to the 

county clerk within sixty days after the celebration aforesaid such return shall be recorded 

with the license." 

There being no requirement in House Bill 48 that the 

Clerk retain the license, the question of whether such a requirement is permissive rather than mandatory does not arise. 

1. Para aph (b) of House Bill 48, Acts 

of the 5 r th Legislature, Second Called 

Session, 1959, Chapter 20, page 113, is 

not Invalid under the requirement of Section 35, Article III of the Constitution 
_ . . . 

Honorable J. R. Owen, Page 7 (W-751) 

of Texas that the caption of a bill express the bill's subject. 

2. House Bill 48 does not require that 

the County Clerk retain the returned 

marriage license after its recordatlon by 

him. 

Very truly yours, 

LH:ms:zt 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

John Reeves, Chairman 

Paul Floyd 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

Jot Hodges 

Fred Werkenthin 

REVIEWEDFORTHE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Leonard Passmore