Debbie Dunnegan-Waters, the county’s recorder of deeds, said she wants to spread the word that people younger than 18 may no longer get married in Missouri.
She said a state law was enacted in late August that prohibits those 17 and younger to marry in Missouri. The law, she said, also makes the process of obtaining a marriage license more “cut and dried” for her office staff.
Before the new legislation, children younger than 18 had to go to the Recorder of Deeds Office with their parents to obtain a license, or the child had to get permission from a judge to marry.
“I’ve been here since 2011, and I can think of, off the top of my head, three or four times where I’ve seen parents with their children (at the office to obtain a marriage license),” Dunnegan-Waters said. “It wasn’t a huge thing in the county, but it did happen. I want people to know: if you’re not 18 (or older), you’re not getting married, just to avoid any issues or complications for somebody. I’d hate for somebody to start spending money planning a wedding and then find out they can’t get a license. It’s better if they know ahead of time.”
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed the bill to end child marriages on July 9, and it went into effect on Aug. 28.
Under the previous law, a child younger than 16 was required to obtain the consent of his or her parents and the approval of a judge to marry. An amendment to the law was added in 2018, limiting the child marriage law to children who are 16 or 17 years old.
“Prior to 2018, many considered Missouri a ‘destination’ state for child marriage, with individuals coming from both coasts to marry 15-year-old girls,” according to a recent article from the University of Missouri’s Law Review.
Missouri now joins 15 other states and Washington, D.C., in having a complete ban on child marriage – no exceptions.
According to the Department of Health and Senior Services, 49 marriages involving people 16-17 years old took place in Missouri in 2022.
The estimated prevalence of marriage of 15-17 year olds in Missouri, 4.9 per 1,000 children surveyed, is lower than the national rate at 6.2 per 1,000 children, according to data collected from the American Community Survey from 2010-2014.
“Today’s action on this legislation is about standing up for the most vulnerable Missourians, those who often cannot advocate for themselves,” Gov. Kehoe said when signing the bill into law. “Protecting these individuals is not just a priority; it’s a responsibility we all share, and we appreciate the General Assembly for sending this legislation to my desk. We must provide safety, support and dignity to those who need it most.”
State Rep. Renee Reuter (R-Imperial) of District 112 co-sponsored the House of Representatives version of the bill with Rep. Wendy Hausman (R-St. Peters) of District 65. The bill was modified and added to when it was sent to the Senate.
“It’s a bill that’s very important. (The previous law) was being used to force children into marriage by their parents, in some cases,” Reuter said at the Jefferson County Growth Association’s legislative forum in August. “ In some cases, it was being used for sex trafficking, unfortunately.”
How to obtain a marriage license
Those who want to get a marriage license in Jefferson County need to provide proof of age to the Recorder’s office in the form of government-issued identification, like a birth certificate or passport, Dunnegan-Waters said.
The license application may be filled out in person, at the Recorder of Deeds’ office in Hillsboro, 729 Maple St. Or, applicants may fill out the form online through a link on the county’s website, jeffcomo.org/315/Recorder-of-Deeds, under the “Services” tab.
“They fill it out and then we review it before they sign the application and we issue the final (license), Dunnegan-Waters said. “We can’t make corrections to a marriage license once it’s left the building. They would have to go to court if there’s a name misspelled or something. With the Real ID, everything’s got to match, or people are just creating problems for themselves.”
Dunnegan-Waters said applicants must call the office at 636-797-5415 ahead of time to set up an appointment.
“That has been a development that we started in 2020 with the shutdowns, and it just kept the flow very nice for us here, so we kept that in place,” she said.