Marriage Law Confusion
By: Whitney Ray
Updated: September 12, 2007
A couple who applied for a marriage license in Benton County will have to wait. In July, Governor Mike Beebe signed the marriage age law, but problems in the bill’s language made it legal for any minor with parental consent to marry. So the Code Revision Commission tried to fix the typos. Now, the law won’t allow anyone under 18 to get married unless they are pregnant. Rogers attorney Timothy Hutchinson will file a complaint in circuit court on behalf of the Benton County couple denied a marriage license. Hutchinson says the law needs to be changed by elected officials not by the Code Revision Commission.
"The citizens didnt know they were doing it, so there was no chance to call your legislature, no chance to lobby, no chance to have any input in this change of law and that bothers me and I think it sets a bad precedent," said Hutchinson.
