Could a Kentucky couple get a marriage license if one applicant had no Social Security number?

Plain-English summary

A senator asked whether Kentucky county clerks had to issue marriage licenses when applicants did not provide Social Security numbers. The Attorney General distinguished an applicant who lacked a number from one who had a number but refused to disclose it. Under the law analyzed, a person without a Social Security number could expressly say so and still receive a license if otherwise qualified. A person who had one had to provide it. A clerk also had to decline a license when an applicant would not say whether a number existed.

The opinion read federal law as requiring a state to record an applicant’s Social Security number if the applicant had one, without requiring every marriage applicant to possess a number. Kentucky’s prescribed application form and blank-space rule required either the number or an express statement that there was none.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2004. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a Kentucky applicant with no Social Security number get a marriage license? A: The Attorney General said yes if the applicant stated that no number existed and the couple otherwise qualified.

Q: Could someone who had a number refuse to give it to the county clerk? A: The opinion said the clerk had to decline the license in that situation.

Q: What if an applicant would not say whether they had a number? A: The opinion also said the clerk had to decline the license because the required application information was missing.

Background and statutory framework

42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(13) required state procedures for recording an applicant’s Social Security number on a marriage-license application. KRS 402.100(1)(b) required the Kentucky form to include the number if a party had one. KRS 402.110 required clerks to ensure required blanks were completed before delivery of the license. The Attorney General used those provisions to distinguish nonpossession from nondisclosure.

Citations and references

Statutes: KRS 402.100(1)(b); KRS 402.110; 42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(13).

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_9bc9736c-cbc8-41d2-a0c7-1f9b490ee329/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_9bc9736c-cbc8-41d2-a0c7-1f9b490ee329

Original opinion text

OAG 04-004
June 16, 2004
Subject:

Issuance of marriage licenses as affected
presence or absence of Social Security numbers.

Requested by

Hon. Brett Guthrie
State Senator

Written by:

Gerard R. Gerhard

Syllabus:

by

While an applicant for a marriage license is not required to have a Social Security number, if an applicant does have one, it must be disclosed to the county clerk, or, there must be an express declaration that the applicant does not have such number.

Statutes construed:

402.100; 402.100(1)(b); 402.100(4); 402.110; 42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(13).

OAGs cited:

None.

Opinion of the Attorney General
The question has been asked: “Must the county clerks issue a marriage license to applicants who do not provide their social security numbers.” We are not certain whether the question is limited to an applicant for a marriage license who has a Social Security number, but declines to disclose it in applying for such a license. If that is the case

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(applicant has Social Security number but refuses to disclose it), the answer is no, since no statute or legal doctrine requires a county clerk or deputy thereof to issue a marriage license to one who does not provide their Social Security number. The answer given above does not provide adequate guidance given the several factual scenarios involving a Social Security number as affecting an application for a marriage license. Accordingly, discussion follows that addresses questions that might arise regarding a Social Security number, in connection with an application for a marriage license. 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 666(a)(13) requires each state to have in effect procedures requiring that the Social Security number of any applicant for a professional license, drivers license, occupational license, recreational license, or marriage license be “recorded on the application.” The federal statute does not, however, require an applicant to have a Social Security number in order to apply for or obtain a marriage license, it just requires that, if an applicant has a Social Security number, procedures are to be in place requiring that the number be recorded on the application. Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 402.100 requires each county clerk, in issuing a marriage license, to use the form prescribed by the Department for Libraries and Archives. That form, as required by KRS 402.100(1)(b), in compliance with 42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(13), is to provide for the entering of “the Social Security number of each party if that party has a Social Security number.” [Emphasis added.] [Note that to protect the confidentiality of the Social Security number, KRS 402.100(4) provides for the Social Security number appearing on a marriage license to appear as a “nonidentifying numeric.”] As indicated by the request for this opinion, “some religious sects object to obtaining or releasing Social Security numbers. Illegal aliens and foreign nationals legally in the United States on tourist or student visas do not have Social Security numbers.”

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KRS 402.110 provides:
The form of marriage license prescribed in KRS 402.100 shall be uniform throughout this state, and every license blank shall contain the identical words and figures provided in the form prescribed in that section. In issuing the license the clerk shall deliver it in its entirety to the licensee. The clerk shall see to it that every blank space required to be filled by the applicants is so filled before delivering it to the licensee.
[Emphasis added.]
County clerks and their deputies, in connection with an application for a marriage license, will be faced with one of the following circumstances: (1) The applicants each have Social Security numbers, and provide them to the county clerk or deputy thereof. (2) One of the applicants has a Social Security number. The other does not, and so indicates. The applicant with a Social Security number provides it to the county clerk or deputy thereof. (3) Each of the applicants indicates that the applicant does not have a Social Security number. (4) One or both of the applicants indicate that he or she has a Social

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Security number, but decline to provide it to the county clerk or deputy thereof. (5) One or both of the applicants declines to indicate whether the respective applicant has a Social Security number. In the case of examples (1), (2), and (3) (above), the county clerk shall issue a marriage license to parties, who otherwise qualify, because in those instances, there will be enough information supplied by the applicants that the county clerk will be able to comply with KRS 402.110, i.e., the county clerk will be able to see to it that every blank space required to be filled by the applicants is so filled before delivering the license to the licensee. However, in the circumstance of examples (4) and (5) (above), the county clerk or deputy thereof must decline to issue a marriage license. This is because, in those circumstances ((4) and (5), above), there will not be information either providing the Social Security number, or indicating that a party does not have one, so that the county clerk may comply with KRS 402.110. Gregory D. Stumbo Attorney General

Gerard R. Gerhard
Assistant Attorney General