Relating to the return of a completed marriage license to a county clerk after the marriage ceremony.
HB 4621 allows federal and state judges who conduct marriage ceremonies to return completed marriage licenses electronically by scanning and submitting the image to the county clerk who issued the license. This replaces the current requirement for physical return of the license. County clerks receiving licenses electronically must mail a certified copy to the applicants' address instead of the original document. The bill takes effect September 1, 2025, and applies specifically to judges defined under Texas Family Code Section 2.202.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Apr 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
House Passage
May 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Apr 3, 2025
Last action May 16, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Engrossed
·
4 edits
·
May 15, 2025
MODERATE
The bill was reformatted from an introduced version to an engrossed version, with significant text reorganization and cleanup. The substantive policy content remains focused on allowing judges to electronically return completed marriage licenses to county clerks instead of mailing them, while adding enforcement penalties for non-compliance and clarifying exemptions for authorized parties.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on marriage license return procedures, but the text now includes clearer enforcement provisions and exemptions that were less distinct in the original version.
REQUIREMENT
Reorganized the text to clarify that judges can authorize parties to return the recorded and subscribed marriage license electronically to the county clerk.
ENFORCEMENT
Added specific penalties for failure to comply with the electronic return requirement, including a misdemeanor fine between $200 and $500.
ELIGIBILITY
Explicitly exempted from penalties those who conduct marriage ceremonies and authorize parties to return the license, as well as the parties themselves when authorized.
TECHNICAL
Removed formatting artifacts and placeholder text from the introduced version to create a clean engrossed bill text.
Floor votes · House May 15, 2025
How they voted
122–17
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 144
May 15, 2025
D
Democratic60
93% Yea
R
Republican84
78% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
29
Key actions
9
Committee
8
Amendments
2
May 16, 2025
Committee
Referred to State Affairs
upper
May 16, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
May 15, 2025
Introduced
Received from the House
upper
May 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
May 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to engrossment as amended
lower
May 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amended
lower
May 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
May 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
Apr 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
lower
Apr 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Recalled from subcommittee
lower
Apr 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Left pending in subcommittee
lower
Apr 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee
lower
Apr 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to s/c on Family & Fiduciary Relationships by Speaker
lower
Apr 3, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Ana Hernandez
DDemocratic
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