SACRAMENTO – At the direction of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., the
California Department of Public Health has notified clerks and
registrar/recorders in all 58 California counties that same-sex marriage
is now legal in California and that marriage licenses must be issued to
same-sex couples immediately.
Today’s action follows the Governor’s directive to the California Department of Public Health after Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The letter sent today to county officials from the California Department of Public Health is here and copied below:
Date: June 28, 2013
TO: COUNTY CLERKS, COUNTY RECORDERS
SUBJECT: RULING BY THE U.S. SUPREME COURT REGARDING SAME-SEX MARRIAGES
On June 28, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
dissolved the stay of the order enjoining enforcement of Proposition 8.
As explained in the notice dated June 26, 2013, this order applies to
all 58 county clerks and county recorders. This means that same-sex
marriage is again legal in California.
Effective immediately, county clerks shall issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California.
People who are currently in a State Registered Domestic Partnership
(SRDP) may be issued a marriage license if the parties to the SRDP and
the parties to the marriage are the same (Family Code Section 298.5) and
the parties are not already legally married to one another in another
jurisdiction.
Same-sex couples legally married in another jurisdiction will be
considered already legally married under California marriage licensing
and certification laws and they should not be issued a new marriage
license. Family Code sections 301, 302, and 500 allow only unmarried
persons to marry in California.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact the Birth and Marriage Registration Section at (916) 445-8494.
Tony Agurto, MPA
State Registrar
Assistant Deputy Director
Health Information and Strategic Planning
