Marriage License in Oklahoma

A license is required first — the law statewide

Oklahoma Statutes Title 43, Section 4, says no person shall enter into the marriage relation, and no person shall perform or solemnize a marriage ceremony in this state, without a license first issued by the judge or clerk of the district court of some county in this state, authorizing the marriage between the persons named in the license.

Section 5, part D, adds a statewide rule that helps with planning: the marriage license shall be valid in any county within the state. You apply in one county, and the license itself is not limited to that county.

Who may marry — the law statewide

Title 43, Section 3, states the age rule in its first part: any unmarried person who is at least eighteen (18) years of age and not otherwise disqualified is capable of contracting and consenting to marriage.

• Under 18. Section 3 says no person under the age of eighteen (18) years shall enter into the marriage relation, and no license shall issue for it, except in the ways that section lists. The main way it lists is consent: the consent and authority expressly given by the parent or guardian of the underage applicant in the presence of the authority issuing the license, or the written consent of the parent or guardian, executed and acknowledged in person before a judge of the district court or the court clerk of any county in Oklahoma. The section lists other consent routes for special cases, such as a parent or guardian who lives outside Oklahoma, who cannot be present for health reasons, or who is on active duty with the Armed Forces. Any certificate or written permission required by that part of the section is retained by the official issuing the license.
• Under 16. Section 3 says every person under the age of sixteen (16) years is expressly forbidden and prohibited from entering into the marriage relation except when authorized by the court, in the cases that section states.
• Close relatives. Section 3 also says no marriage may be authorized when the marriage would be incestuous under that chapter. Section 2 lists the relationships that are declared incestuous, illegal, and void.

The application — the law statewide

Title 43, Section 5, part A, says persons desiring to be married in this state shall submit an application in writing, signed and sworn to in person before the clerk of the district court, by both of the parties. The application sets out:

• The place of residence of each party.
• The full legal name and the age of each party, as they appear on, or can be worked out from, a certified copy of the birth certificate, the current driver license or identification card, the current passport or visa, or another certificate, license, or document accepted as proof of identity and age.
• For each party, the full name by which that party will be known after the marriage.
• That the parties are not disqualified from, or incapable of, entering into the marriage relation.
• Whether the parties have successfully completed a premarital counseling program.

Section 5, part B, says that on that application, and on payment of the fees provided in Section 31 of Title 28, if the clerk of the district court is satisfied of the truth and sufficiency of the application and that there is no legal impediment to the marriage, the court clerk shall issue the marriage license and a marriage certificate, incorporated as one document. The marriage certificate is completed immediately following the marriage, and the license and certificate are returned to the court clerk, as required by law.

The fee — the law statewide

The fee itself is not set in Title 43. Title 43 points to Title 28, Section 31, and that section states the amounts for the clerk’s work of application, issuing, entering return, and recording a marriage license:

• $50.00 — if the applicants do not submit a certificate that states the applicants have completed the premarital counseling program under Section 5.1 of Title 43.
• $5.00 — if the applicants submit a certificate that states the applicants have completed that premarital counseling program.

Those are the only license fee amounts printed on this page, because those are the amounts the statute itself states. Other costs — for copies, for a ceremony, or for anything else — are not stated on this page. Ask the Court Clerk what, if anything, else applies in that county.

Premarital counseling and the reduced fee — the law statewide

Title 43, Section 5, part B, says parties who present a certificate to the clerk of the district court stating that they have completed the premarital counseling program under Section 5.1 are entitled to pay a reduced fee for a marriage license, in the amount provided in Title 28, Section 31 — the $5.00 amount above.

Section 5.1 says the clerk shall reduce the fee, as prescribed by Title 28, Section 31, for persons who have successfully completed a premarital counseling program that meets the conditions in that section. Under Section 5.1:

• The program is conducted by a health professional, an official representative of a religious institution, or a person trained by the principal authors, or duly authorized agents of the principal authors, of a nationally recognized marriage education curriculum.
• A minimum of four (4) hours of education or counseling is necessary for successful completion of the marriage education curriculum.
• On successful completion, the program provider issues a certificate signed by the instructor, stating that the named persons have successfully completed the premarital counseling requirements.

Waiting period and how long the license lasts — the law statewide

• Under legal age — 72 hours. Title 43, Section 5, part C, says that if one or both parties are under legal age, the application shall have been on file in the court clerk’s office for not less than seventy-two (72) hours before the marriage license is issued. Section 5 states that 72-hour filing rule for under-age parties. It does not state a general waiting period for adults in that part.
• Valid for 30 days. Title 43, Section 20, part A, says that once issued, the marriage license shall be valid for thirty (30) days, and the marriage ceremony shall be performed no later than thirty (30) days from the date the license is issued.
• Return within that same 30 days. Section 20, part A, also says the marriage license and completed marriage certificate shall be returned to the court clerk for recording no later than thirty (30) days from the date the license was issued.

What the license itself contains — the law statewide

Title 43, Section 6, says the marriage license shall contain the date it was issued; the name of the court issuing it, and the name of the city or town and county where the court is located; the full legal names of the persons authorized to be married, the full legal names by which they will be known after the marriage, their ages, and their places of residence; directions to any person authorized by law to perform and solemnize the marriage ceremony; and the number of days by which the ceremony shall be completed and by which the certificate, with the license, shall be returned to the court clerk, as provided in Section 20.

Who may perform the ceremony — the law statewide

Title 43, Section 7, part A, says all marriages must be contracted by a formal ceremony performed or solemnized in the presence of at least two adult, competent persons as witnesses, by:

• a judge or retired judge of any court in this state, or
• an ordained or authorized preacher or minister of the Gospel, priest, or other ecclesiastical dignitary of any denomination who has been duly ordained or authorized by the church to which he or she belongs to preach the Gospel, or a rabbi — and who is at least eighteen (18) years of age.

Section 7, part B, adds two filing and certifying points: a judge shall place his or her order of appointment on file with the office of the court clerk of the county where the judge resides; and the preacher, minister, priest, rabbi, or ecclesiastical dignitary shall certify on the marriage certificate that he or she holds credentials or authority from his or her church or synagogue authorizing him or her to solemnize marriages.

Section 7, part D, makes an exception in its own words for marriages between persons belonging to the society called Friends, or Quakers, the spiritual assembly of the Baha’is, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which have no ordained minister: those marriages may be solemnized by the persons and in the manner prescribed by and practiced in any such society, church, or assembly.

After the ceremony, Title 43, Section 8, covers endorsement and return: the person performing the ceremony endorses the license with his or her name and official or clerical designation, the court or congregation, and the town or city and county; the witnesses endorse the marriage certificate, attesting to their presence; the married persons endorse it with the names by which they are to be known from the time of the marriage; and the license, with the completed certificate, is transmitted to the court clerk who issued it, for recording, within the time required in Section 20.

Kay County example — Ponca City’s county

Ponca City is in Kay County. The steps below are only the Kay County Court Clerk’s own published mechanics. They are a local example, not a statewide rule for every county. Every county has its own Court Clerk, so if you use a different county, check that county’s Court Clerk instead.

• Office. Kay County Court Clerk, Marilee Thornton. Physical address: 201 S. Main St., Newkirk, OK 74647. Mailing address: P.O. Box 428, Newkirk, OK 74647. Phone: 580-362-3350.
• Hours, as that page lists them. Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–12:00 p.m. and 12:45 p.m.–4:30 p.m.
• Age 18 and older, as that page lists it. Proof of age is required — driver’s license, birth certificate, or passport.
• Age 16 to 17, as that page lists it. Parental consent of either parent or legal guardian, and a birth certificate.
• Under 16, as that page lists it. Prohibited in this state except by court order.
• Waiting period, as that page lists it. No waiting period required except for those under the age of 18, where there is a 72-hour waiting period.

The Kay County Court Clerk’s own page, as read for this page, does not state a license fee. That is why the fee amounts above are labeled as the law statewide, from Title 28, Section 31 — not as a Kay County fee. Call the Kay County Court Clerk at the number above to confirm the current total and how payment is taken before you go.

A marriage license is not a birth or death certificate. Licenses come from a Court Clerk under Title 43. Do not go to a vital-records office for a license expecting that office to issue it — start with a Court Clerk.