A bill to amend the Canal Zone Code to transfer the functions of the Clerk of the U.S. District Court for the District of the Canal Zone with respect to the issuance and recording of marriage licenses, and related activities, to the civil affairs director of the Canal Zone Government, and for other purposes.
PL 93-465 (S.2348), enacted 10/24/1974

88 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 93-465-OCT. 24, 1974 
1417 
Public Law 93-465 
A N A C T 
October 24, 1974 
To amend the Canal Zone Code to transfer the functions of the Clerk of the 
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United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone with resiJect 
to the issuance and recording of marriage licenses, and related activities, to the 
civil affairs director of the Canal Zone Government, and for other purposes. 
Be it eiuxcted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That section 4 of 
title 8, Canal Zone (^ode (76A Stat. (572), is amended to read as "^wiarrTage'Vi-
f ollows: 
Canal Zone 
Government. 
censes, issuance 
and recording. 
"§4. Marriage license; application; waiting period; medical cer-
tificate or court order; fee; record; period of validity 
"(a) A nuiiriage may not be celebrated in the Canal Zone unless a 
license to marry has first been secured from the Governor, or his desig-
nee. If both parties to a proposed marriage are residents of the Repub-
lic of Panama and neither is a United States citizen, a license may not 
be issued in the Canal Zone unless the parties have previously obtained 
ja license to marry from the proper authorities in the Republic of Pan-
ama. A marriage license may not be issued to a leper except upon a 
certificate of approval by the health director of the Canal Zone Gov-
ernment. A license when issued shall be accompanied by a marriage 
certificate to be executed by the person celebrating the marriage, 
"(b) The application for a marriage license shall state— 
"(1) the name, address, legal residence, age, and date of birth 
of each of the persons to be married; 
"(2) the relationship, if any, of the persons, by consanguinity 
or affinity; and 
"(3) if either person has been previously married, the date and 
place of each previous marriage, the name of each former spouse, 
and the manner in which each previous marriage has been termi-
nated. 
"(c) Except as provided by subsection (d) of this section, the 
Governor, or his designee, shall issue a marriage license, after appli-
cation therefor, if— 
"(1) the application for the license is in accordance with sub-
section (b) of this section, and is accompanied by the written 
consent when required by section 2 of this title; and 
" (2) it appears to the satisfaction of the Governor,^r his desig-
nee, from the sworn statements of the persons desiring to marry, 
or, if required by the Governor, or his designee, from the sworn 
statement of another person, that ho legal impediment to the 
marriage is known to exist. 
"(d) The Governor, or his designee, may not issue a marriage 
license until— 
" (1) the application therefor remains on file, open to the public, 
in his office, for three days before license is issued; and 
"(2) each of the persons desiring to be married has presented 
and filed with him either a medical certificate indicating that the 
examination required by subchapter II of this chapter has been 
made, or an order from the district court, as provided by that 
subchapter, directing him to issue the license. 
"(e) The Governor shall prescribe the form of the application 
for a marriage license, of the marriage license, and of the marriage 
certificate. 
"(f) The Governor, or his designee, shall collect a fee of $2 upon the 
issuance of a marriage license, and shall keep a record of all licenses ^^<=°'^dkeeping. 
issued and of all applications for licenses, together with any written 
Fee. 
1418 
PUBLIC LAW 93-465-OCT. 24, 1974 
[88 STAT. 
consent of parents or a parent or guardian or the health director 
accompanying the same. 
"(g) A marriage license is valid for only thirty days, including the 
date it is issued.". 
SEC. 2. Section 5 of title 8, Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 673), is 
amended to read as follows: 
"§ 5. Who may celebrate a marriage; license to celebrate 
"(a) xi marriage may be celebrated in the Canal Zone only by a— 
" (1) magistrate of the Canal Zone; 
"(2) minister in good standing in any religious society or 
denomination who resides in the Canal Zone; or 
"(3) minister in good standing in any religious society or 
denomination who resides in the Republic of Panama, if he has 
procured from the Governor, or his designee, a license authorizing 
the minister to celebrate marriages in the Canal Zone. 
"(b) The Governor, or his designee, shall issue the license provided 
for by paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of this section upon the sub-
mission, by a minister referred to therein, of a written application, 
together with a duly authenticated copy of his authority to celebrate 
marriages in the Republic of Panama. The Gt)vernor, or his designee, 
shall be paid a fee of $5 for issuing and recording the license.". 
SEC. 3. Section 6 of title 8, Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 673), is 
amended to read as follows: 
"§6, Certifying, signing, return, and recording of license; mar-
riage certificate 
"(a) The judicial officer or minister celebrating a marriage shall— 
"(1) certify upon the marriage license that he celebrated the 
marriage, giving his official title and the time when and place 
where the marriage was celebrated; 
'•(2) cause two persons who witnessed the marriage to sign 
their names on the marriage license as witnesses, each giving his 
place of residence; 
'• (3) at the time of the marriage, fill out and sign the marriage 
certificate accompanying the license and deliver it to one of the 
parties to the marriage; and 
" (4) within thirty days after the date of the marriage, return 
the license, so certified and witnessed, to the office of the Governor, 
or his designee. 
"(b) Upon return of a license as required by subsection (a) of this 
section, the Governor, or his designee, shall file it after making registry 
thereof in a book to be kept in his office for that purpose only. The 
registry must contain the Christian and surnames of the parties, the 
time of their marriage, and the name and title of the person who cele-
brated the marriage.". 
SEC. 4. Section 8 of title 8, Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 673), is 
amended to read as follows: 
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§ 8. Acknowledgment and recording of declaration 
"Declarations of marriage shall be acknowledged and recorded in 
the office of the Governor, or his designee.". 
SEC. 5. Section 11 of title 8. Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 674), is 
amended to read as follows: 
88 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 93-465-OCT. 24, 1974 
1419 
"§ 11. Offenses and penalties 
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• (a) Whoever, being a judicial officer, minister qualified to celebrate 
marriages in the Canal Zone, or an officer or employee of the United 
States, violates section 4, 5, or 6 of this title, shall be fined not more 
'^"'«' PP- I417, 
than $100 or imprisoned in jail not more than thirty days, or both. 
"(b) Whoever knowingly makes a false oath as to a material mat-
ter for the purpose of procuring or aiding another to procure a mar-
riage license is guilty of perjury and shall be imprisoned in the 
penitentiary not more than 10 years. 
"(c) Whoever knowingly files with the Governor, or his designee, 
a written consent, any signature to which is a forgery, is guilty of 
uttering a forged instrument and shall be imprisoned in the peni-
tentiary not more than fourteen years. 
"(d) Whoever, not being qualified to celebrate marriages in the 
Canal Zone pursuant to this subchapter, celebrates what purports to 
be a marriage ceremony shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not 
more than three years.". 
SEC. 6. Section 34 of title 8, Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 675), is 
amended to read as follows: 
"§ 34. Marriage license, without medical certificate, because of 
pregnancy 
"If a female applicant for a marriage license makes an affidavit to 
the effect that marriage is necessary because she is with child and that 
the marriage will confer legitimacy on the unborn child, the district 
court may hear and determine on medical testimony the question of 
pregnancy and, on adjudging that pregnancy exists, shall order the 
Governor, or his designee, to issue the marriage license if all other 
requirements of the law regarding the issuance of marriage licenses 
are complied with, even though the clinical examination and labora-
tory tests reveal that one or both applicants have syphilis infection. 
In its order, the court shall provide that the applicant or applicants 
having syphilis infection shall be treated for the infection as pro-
vided by the regulations referred to in section 33 of this title. A copy 
of the order shall be filed with the Governor, or his designee, in lieu 
of the medical certificate.". 
SEC. 7. Subsection (a) of section 36 of title 8, Canal Zone Code 
(76A Stat. 675), is amended to read as follows: 
"(a) If an applicant has been refused a marriage license by the 
P'-otest. 
Governor, or his designee, because of failure to obtain a medical 
certificate, the applicant may elect to file a protest and take the pro-
cedure authorized by this section or to take any other procedure.". 
SEC. 8. Item (4) of section 344 of title 3, Canal Zone Code (76A 
Repeal. 
Stat. 62), is repealed, and items (5), (6), (7), and (8) shall be redesig-
nated (4), (5), (6),and (7) respectively. 
SEC. 9. The analysis of chapter 1 of title 8, Canal Zone Code (76A 
Stat. 671), is amended by striking out in the item relating to section 5 
"marriages;" and inserting in lieu thereof "a marriage;". 
SEC. 10. All records of marriages in the custody of the clerk of the 
Records, trans-
United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone shall ^" '° Governor. 
be transferred to the Governor, or his designee, within ninety days 
after the date of enactment of this Act. 
1420 
PUBLIC LAW 93-466-OCT. 24, 1974 
[88 STAT. 
Effective dates. 
SEC. 11. The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall become 
effective upon the expiration of ninety days after the date of enact-
ment, except that section 10 shall become effective on the date of 
enactment. 
Approved October 24, 1974. 
October 24, 1974 
[S, 60S] 
Public Law 93-466 
AN ACT 
To amend the Act of June 30, 1944, an Act "To provide for the establishment of 
the Harpers Ferry National Monument", and for other purposes. 
Harpers Ferry 
National Histori-
cal Park, W. Va. 
Additional 
lands authorized. 
Publication in 
Federal Register. 
16 u s e 450bb-2. 
Interpretive 
shuttle transporta-
tion service. 
16 u s e 4 50bb 
note. 
Appropriation. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress osseTnbled, That the Act of 
June BO, 1944 (58 Stat. 645; 16 U.S.C. 450bb), an Act "To provide 
for the establishment of the Harpers Ferry National Monument", is 
amended as follows: 
(1) In section 1, the first sentence is amended to read: "That, in 
order to carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Interior is authorized to acquire lands or interests in lands, by dona-
tion, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange, 
within the boundaries as generally depicted on the drawing entitled 
'Boundary Map, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park', numbered 
385-40,000r> and dated April 1974, which shall be on file and avail-
able for public inspection in the offices of the National Park Service, 
1 )epartinent of the Interior: Provided, That after advising the Com-
mittees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the Congress of the United 
States, in writing, the Secretary may make minor revisions in the 
boundary, when necessary, by publication of a revised drawing or 
other boundary description in the Federal Register, but the total acre-
age shall not exceed two thousand acres: Provided further, That noth-
ing herein shall be deemed to authorize the acquisition, without 
consent of the owner, of a fee simple interest in lands within the 
boundaries in Avhich a less than fee interest has previously been 
acquired by the Secretary of the Interior." 
(2) In section o, delete the woid "and" at the end of paragraph (1) ; 
change the period at the end of paragraph (2) to a semicolon and add 
"and"; and add the following new paragraph: 
" (3) Provide, directly or by contract, subject to the provisions of the 
Act of June 7, 1974 (88 Stat. 192; 16 U.S.C. 4601-6a) an interpretive 
shuttle transportation service within, between, and among lands 
acquired for the purpose of this Act for such times and upon such 
terms as in his judgment will best accomplish the purposes of this 
Act." 
(3) Revise section 4 to read as follows: 
"In addition to such sums as have heretofore been appropriated, 
there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out the provisions of this Act, but not more than $1,300,000 
for the acquisition of lands and interests in lands, and not more than 
$8,690,000 for development." 
Approved October 24, 1974.