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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

The Honorable Luis V. Saenz 

Cameron County District Attorney 

Cameron County Courthouse 

964 East Harrison Street 

Brownsville, Texas 78520 

Dear Mr. Saenz: 

April 28, 2014 

Opinion No. GA-1053 

Re: Whether subsection 2.204(c) of the 

Family Code authorizes a justice of the peace 

to grant a waiver of the 72-hour waiting 

period after the issuance of a marriage 

license (RQ-1160-GA) 

When a marriage license is issued in Texas, subsection 2.204(a) of the Family Code imposes a 

72-hour waiting period before a marriage ceremony may take place, with certain exceptions. See 

TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 2.204(a), (b) (West Supp. 2013). An applicant may, however, request "a 

written waiver permitting the marriage ceremony to take place during the 72-hour period immediately 

following the issuance of the marriage license" from a list of judges set forth in subsection 2.204(c ). 

Id § 2.204( c). You ask "whether a justice of the peace is authorized to grant 72-hour waivers" under 

subsection 2.204( c) and, if so, you have related questions concerning fees for the issuance of 

waivers.' 

The waiver provision, located in Title 1 of the Family Code, states that "[a]n applicant may 

request ajudge of a court withjurisdiction in family law cases, ajustice ofthe supreme court, ajudge 

of the court of criminal appeals, a county judge, or a judge of a court of appeals for a written waiver" 

of the 72-hour waiting period. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN.§ 2.204(c) (West Supp. 2013). In your view, 

"on the face [of] the statute it appears that a justice of the peace has no authority to sign or grant a 

waiver of the 72-hour period" because the list in subsection 2.204( c) does not refer expressly to a 

justice of the peace. Request Letter at 2. The statute does, however, grant waiver authority to "a 

judge of a court with jurisdiction in family law cases." TEX. FAM. CODE ANN.§ 2.204(c) (West Supp. 

1

Letter from Honorable Luis V. Saenz, Cameron Cnty. Dist. Att'y, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 

l (Oct. 23, 2013), http://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opin ("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Luis V. Saenz - Page 2 (GA-1053) 

20 13). To determine whether a justice of the peace is a judge of "a court with jurisdiction in family 

law cases," we examine the jurisdiction of a justice court. 

A justice court has original jurisdiction of (1) certain civil matters where the amount in 

controversy is not more than $1 0,000; (2) cases of forcible entry and detainer; (3) certain foreclosures 

of mortgages and enforcement of liens on personal property; and (4) cases involving photographic 

traffic enforcement systems outside a city's territorial limits. See TEX. Gov'T CoDE ANN.§ 27.031(a) 

(West Supp. 2013). In addition, a justice court has "jurisdiction and powers provided by the 

constitution and other law."2 /d. One such area in which a justice court may be given jurisdiction 

involves truancy cases. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN.§ 54.02l(a) (West Supp. 2013). 

As background, the court with "primary responsibility for cases involving family law matters" 

is a family district court.3 TEX. Gov'T CODE ANN.§ 24.601(b) (West 2004). "These matters include: 

(1) adoptions; (2) birth records; (3) divorce and marriage annulment; (4) child welfare, custody, 

support and reciprocal support, dependency, neglect, and delinquency; (5) parent and child; and (6) 

husband and wife." /d. § 24.601(b)(1)-(6). In the case of delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a 

need for supervision of a child, Title 3 of the Family Code grants exclusive original jurisdiction to 

juvenile courts4 in the county. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 51.04(a) (West Supp. 2013). Where the 

conduct indicating a need for supervision is the alleged failure to attend school, a juvenile court may 

choose to waive its exclusive original jurisdiction and transfer the child, among other places, to a 

justice court. /d. § 54.021(a). This waiver of exclusive jurisdiction may be for an individual case or 

for all truancy cases as a class. Such a waiver authorizes the justice court to "exercise jurisdiction 

over" the child if certain conditions are met. Id. § 54.021(a)-(b). 

A justice court gains jurisdiction over Title 3 truancy cases, however, only when a juvenile 

court waives its exclusive original jurisdiction over such matters. Id. § 54.021(a). A justice court 

does not exercise this jurisdiction independently. Further, although the Legislature does not define 

the phrase "court with jurisdiction in family law cases" in the Family Code, references in other 

2

A justice of the peace may conduct a marriage ceremony. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 2.202(a)(4) (West Supp. 

20 13). A justice court, however, expressly "does not have jurisdiction of ... a suit for divorce." TEX. Gov'T CODE ANN. 

§ 27.03l(b)(2) (West Supp. 2013). In addition, not all judges authorized to conduct marriage ceremonies are authorized 

to grant waivers of the 72-hour waiting period. Compare TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 2.202(a)(4)--{5) (West Supp. 2013) 

(listing eighteen categories of judges authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony), with id. § 2.204(c) (specifying only 

five categories of judges authorized to grant waivers of the 72-hour waiting period). 

3

The designation of a family district court as having primary responsibility for family law matters "does not limit 

the jurisdiction of other district courts nor relieve them of responsibility for handling cases involving family law matters." 

TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN.§ 24.60l(c) (West 2004). 

4

See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 51.04(b) (West Supp. 2013) (providing that in each county, "one or more district, 

criminal district, domestic relations, juvenile, or county courts or county courts at law" shall be designated as the juvenile 

court). 
The Honorable Luis V. Saenz - Page 3 (GA-1053) 

statutes that set forth the jurisdiction of various courts strongly suggest that the phrase does not 

include courts with only Title 3 jurisdiction in truancy cases. See, e.g. TEX. Gov'T CODE ANN. 

§ 24.601(b) (West 2004) (defining "family law matters" for purposes of family district court 

jurisdiction to include child delinquency but not conduct indicating a need for supervision of a child, 

such as truancy); id. § 25.0002(2) (West Supp. 2013) (defining "family law cases and proceedings" 

for purposes of statutory county court jurisdiction to exclude cases and proceedings under Title 3 of 

the Family Code); Robertson v. Odom, 296 S.W.3d 151, 157 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2009, 

no pet.) (holding that in construing an undefined word or phrase, a court "may consider the meaning 

assigned to the term elsewhere in the act or in another act of similar nature" and give the same 

meaning as in the similar statute "unless something indicates that a different meaning was intended"). 

Accordingly, a court would likely conclude that a justice of the peace is not a "judge of a court with 

jurisdiction in family law cases" for purposes of subsection 2.204( c) of the Family Code and thus 

may not grant a waiver of the 72-hour waiting period after the issuance of a marriage license. 

Because your remaining questions concerning related fees are expressly premised on an 

affirmative answer to your first question, we do not address them. 
The Honorable Luis V. Saenz - Page 4 (GA-1053) 

SUMMARY 

A court would likely conclude that a justice of the peace is not a 

'judge of a court with jurisdiction in family law cases" for purposes of 

subsection 2.204( c) of the Family Code and thus may not grant a 

waiver of the 72-hour waiting period after the issuance of a marriage 

license. 

DANIEL T. HODGE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

JAMES D. BLACKLOCK 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Becky P. Casares 

Very truly yours, 

Attorney General ofTexas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee