A. For failure to perform the county clerk's responsibilities and duties pursuant to Chapter 40, Article 1 NMSA 1978, a county clerk is responsible on the county clerk's official bond for damages suffered by the injured party.
B. A person who performs the marriage ceremony or certifies a marriage to the county clerk, who neglects or fails to comply with the provisions of Chapter 40, Article 1 NMSA 1978 and any person who willfully violates the law by deceiving or attempting to deceive or mislead any officer or person in order to obtain a marriage license or to be married contrary to law is upon conviction guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.
History: Laws 1905, ch. 65, § 9; Code 1915, § 3443; C.S. 1929, § 87-122; 1941 Comp., § 65-118; 1953 Comp., § 57-1-17; 2013, ch. 144, § 13.
Cross references. — For county clerks, see N.M. Const., art. VI, § 22 and Chapter 4, Article 40 NMSA 1978.
The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, increased penalties; added the title; deleted "Any county clerk or"; added Subsection A; in Subsection B, after phrase "A person", deleted "authorized by law to perform" and added "who performs", after "marriage ceremony", added "or certifies a marriage to the county clerk", after "any officer or person", deleted "authorized to perform the marriage ceremony", after "contrary to law", deleted "shall be deemed" and added "is upon conviction", and after "misdemeanor and", deleted language which provided for a minimum fifty dollar and a maximum one hundred dollar fine or imprisonment, and added the remainder of the sentence.
Penalty for performing marriage in county other than where license obtained. — The act of a duly qualified justice of the peace (now magistrate), priest or minister in performing a marriage ceremony where the marriage license was obtained in a county of this state other than that where the marriage ceremony was celebrated does not fall within the mandatory or prohibited provisions, and the wording of 40-1-10 NMSA 1978 does not expressly or by inference refer to persons performing the marriage ceremony. Therefore, such persons may perform such ceremonies without violating the marriage laws or subjecting themselves to criminal penalty. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-104.
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.