House committee OKs bill that would end marriage for anyone under 16 in Idaho

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration on Tuesday advanced a bill ending child marriage for anyone under 16 and stopped a bill ending state-issued marriage licenses.

Under current Idaho law, 16- and 17-year-olds don’t need court permission to marry, only a parent’s permission. A child under age 16 can marry if a judge also consents.

A bill last year that sought to end child marriage failed on the House floor.

Two Republicans who voted against last year’s bill, Idaho Falls Reps. Barbara Ehardt and Bryan Zollinger, brought their own bill this session to reduce child marriage in Idaho. Their bill sets the minimum age to marry in Idaho at 16 and restricts the age difference if one party is under age 18 to no more than three years.

Zollinger and Ehardt said their only issue with last year’s bill was that it added a requirement for court approval for 16- and 17-year-olds to marry, which is not required under current law. The House voted down last year’s bill 39-28.

“That is essentially the change in this bill. It is a parent’s and family’s decision, not a court decision,” Zollinger told reporters last week.

Under this new bill, there is no court approval required for 16- and 17-year-olds to marry and there are no circumstances in which a child under the age of 16 can marry. There are no circumstances under which a 16- or 17-year-old can marry someone more than three years older.

The committee unanimously agreed to send HB 466 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation.

State-issued marriage licenses

Zollinger and Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, co-sponsored HB 434, which would do away with state-issued marriage licenses and instead require a couple to file a marriage solemnization “certificate” with the county recorder in the county in which the ceremony took place.

Zito said the bill reflects the Idaho Republican Party values.

“In 2018, the Idaho GOP added to the Republican Party platform that we recognize traditional marriage without the issuance of a marriage license for those who, for religious purposes, object to the role of the state in licensing traditional marriages,” she said.

Zollinger added, “Asking the government for permission to get married is not the function of government.”

Additionally, the bill requires the portion of state-required divorce-filing fees that go to a state domestic violence fund be retained by the county in which they are collected and the county then uses them for “domestic violence projects.”

Currently, those fees collected in all counties go to the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence, which redistributes the money to domestic violence programs statewide.

The committee voted 11-6 to hold the bill in committee, effectively killing it.

In addition to Zito and Zollinger, GOP Reps. Barbara Ehardt, Idaho Falls; Ryan Kerby, New Plymouth; Heather Scott, Blanchard; and Julianne Young, Blackfoot, voted in support of the bill.

Opposing the bill were the committee’s four Democrats and GOP Reps. Paul Amador, Coeur d’Alene; Greg Chaney, Caldwell; Bill Goesling, Moscow; Linda Hartgen, Twin Falls; Gary Marshall, Idaho Falls; Doug Ricks, Rexburg; and Caroline Nilsson Troy, Genesse.

Boise Democratic Rep. John Gannon expressed concern that if the state no longer requires couples to take an oath that could lead to bigamy or polygamy or someone unknowingly marrying someone who may be married to someone else.

A state-issued license and the required oath “provide an important safeguard for people and this tremendously significant event,” Gannon told the committee.