Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 39 of chapter 207 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

In addition to the foregoing, the governor may designate any other person to solemnize a particular marriage on a particular date and in a particular city or town, and may for cause at any time revoke such designation. The state secretary, upon the payment to him of two hundred and fifty dollars by said other person, shall issue to said person a certificate of such designation. Such certificate shall expire upon completion of such solemnization.

SECTION 2. Section 58 of said chapter 207, as appearing in the 1988 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "language", in line 5, the words:- and any present or former professional affiliation.

SECTION 3. Section 35 of chapter 262 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word "thirty-five" and inserting in place thereof the word:- forty-five.

SECTION 4. Said section 35 of said chapter 262, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 3, the word "fifty" and inserting in place thereof the word:- sixty.

SECTION 5. Said section 35 of said chapter 262, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following three sentences:- Nor shall any additional charge be made by a justice of the peace, for providing flowers, for providing music, for providing a photographer, for providing a location where the marriage ceremony takes place, or for providing an unofficial certificate of marriage. Additional charges are allowable for prenuptial counseling conferences, rehearsals, and other other special requests by the couples whose marriage is being solemnized; provided, however, that the amount of these additional charges must be disclosed in writing to the couple whose marriage is being solemnized at least forty-eight hours prior to the rendering of these services. The total fee for lawfully solemnizing and certifying a marriage shall not exceed the fee limit fixed for solemnizing and certifying a marriage in a justice of the peace's home community where a municipal employee who is also a justice of the peace solemnizes a marriage in a municipal building at a time when said building is regularly open for business.