Bill Text: CT HB05339 | 2014 | General Assembly | Chaptered
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Administration Of Oaths And The Validation Of Certain Marriages.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Passed) 2014-06-06 - Signed by the Governor [HB05339 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05339-Chaptered.html
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS AND THE VALIDATION OF CERTAIN MARRIAGES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 1-24 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
The following officers may administer oaths: (1) The clerks of the Senate, the clerks of the House of Representatives and the chairpersons of committees of the General Assembly or of either branch thereof, during its session; (2) state officers, as defined in subsection (t) of section 9-1, judges and clerks of any court, family support magistrates, judge trial referees, justices of the peace, commissioners of the Superior Court, notaries public, town clerks and assistant town clerks, in all cases where an oath may be administered, except in a case where the law otherwise requires; (3) commissioners on insolvent estates, auditors, arbitrators and committees, to parties and witnesses, in all cases tried before them; (4) assessors and boards of assessment appeals, in cases coming before them; (5) commissioners appointed by governors of other states to take the acknowledgment of deeds, in the discharge of their official duty; (6) the moderator of a school district meeting, in such meeting, to the clerk of such district, as required by law; (7) the [first selectman] chief elected official of a municipality, in any matter before the [board of selectmen] chief elected official of a municipality; (8) the Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Medical Examiner and assistant medical examiners of the Office of the Medical Examiner, in any matter before them; (9) registrars of vital statistics, in any matter before them; (10) any chief inspector or inspector appointed pursuant to section 51-286; (11) registrars of voters, deputy registrars, assistant registrars, and moderators, in any matter before them; (12) special assistant registrars, in matters provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of section 9-19b and section 9-19c; (13) the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any sworn member of any local police department or the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in all affidavits, statements, depositions, complaints or reports made to or by any member of any local police department or said Division of State Police or any constable who is under the supervision of said commissioner or any of such officers of said Division of State Police and who is certified under the provisions of sections 7-294a to 7-294e, inclusive, and performs criminal law enforcement duties; (14) judge advocates of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, law specialists of the United States Coast Guard, adjutants, assistant adjutants, acting adjutants and personnel adjutants, commanding officers, executive officers and officers whose rank is lieutenant commander or major, or above, of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, to persons serving with or in the armed forces, as defined in said section, or their spouses; (15) investigators, deputy investigators, investigative aides, secretaries, clerical assistants, social workers, social worker trainees, paralegals and certified legal interns employed by or assigned to the Public Defender Services Commission in the performance of their assigned duties; (16) bail commissioners and intake, assessment and referral specialists employed by the Judicial Department in the performance of their assigned duties; (17) juvenile matter investigators employed by the Division of Criminal Justice in the performance of their assigned duties; (18) the chairperson of the Connecticut Siting Council or the chairperson's designee; (19) the presiding officer at an agency hearing under section 4-177b; (20) family relations counselors employed by the Judicial Department and support enforcement officers and investigators employed by the Department of Social Services Bureau of Child Support Enforcement and the Judicial Department, in the performance of their assigned duties; (21) the chairperson, vice-chairperson, members and employees of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, in the performance of their assigned duties; (22) the Commissioner of Correction or the commissioner's designee; (23) sworn law enforcement officers, appointed under section 26-5, within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in all affidavits, statements, depositions, complaints or reports made to or by any such sworn law enforcement officer; and (24) sworn motor vehicle inspectors acting under the authority of section 14-8.
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) No oath administered by a chief elected official, on or after November 1, 2011, but prior to the effective date of this section, shall be deemed invalid solely because the chief elected official lacked the authority to administer the oath under section 1-24 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.
Sec. 3. Section 46b-22a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
All marriages celebrated before [June 7, 2006] the effective date of this section, otherwise valid except that the justice of the peace joining such persons in marriage did not have a valid certificate of qualification, are validated, provided the justice of the peace who joined such persons in marriage represented himself or herself to be a duly qualified justice of the peace and such persons reasonably relied upon such representation.
Sec. 4. Section 46b-24a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
All marriages celebrated before [June 7, 2006] the effective date of this section, otherwise valid except that the license for any such marriage was issued in a town other than the town in this state in which such marriage was celebrated, or where either party to the marriage resided at the time of the marriage license application, are validated.