Can a Tennessee mayor or judge perform a wedding ceremony in another state using a marriage license from a Tennessee county clerk?

Subject

Opinion No. 15-47, Solemnizing Marriages Outside Tennessee, June 3, 2015

Plain-English summary

A Tennessee couple gets a marriage license from a Tennessee county clerk and asks a Tennessee mayor or judge to perform the ceremony at a destination location in another state. Can the official do it? The AG said no. The Tennessee statute authorizing current and former elected officials to perform marriages says they "may solemnize the rite of matrimony in any county of this state." That phrase, the AG concluded, is a geographic ceiling. By naming all 95 Tennessee counties as the authorized locations, the legislature impliedly excluded any location outside Tennessee. There is no Tennessee statute supporting an elected official's solemnization of a wedding in another state.

Religious officiants (ministers, priests, rabbis, and other spiritual leaders) are separately authorized under the same provision, and the in-state geographic limit attaches to the elected-official categories specifically. Couples who want a Tennessee official to officiate a destination wedding need to either find a religious officiant authorized to act in the host state or have someone authorized in the host state perform the ceremony.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. 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

Why did the AG read "in any county of this state" as exclusive?

Tennessee courts use the canon "expressio unius est exclusio alterius" (the expression of one thing implies the exclusion of others). Where the legislature listed the 95 counties of Tennessee as authorized locations, it impliedly excluded any other geographic area. The AG also noted that this interpretation follows from the plain and ordinary meaning of the statutory text.

Which elected officials does this apply to?

Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-301(a)(1) lists the current and former elected officials who may solemnize marriages. The 2015 list included current and former governors, members of the General Assembly, judges, justices, and certain other elected officials. The "in any county of this state" geographic limitation in subsection (i) applies to all of them.

Does this restrict religious officiants too?

No. The geographic limitation language at issue (subsection (i)) is keyed to elected officials. Religious officiants ("ministers, preachers, pastors, priests, rabbis and other spiritual leaders of every religious belief") have authority that does not turn on Tennessee borders in the same way.

What if the couple gets a marriage license from the destination state instead?

That changes the question. This opinion was specifically about using a Tennessee marriage license at an out-of-state ceremony. Whether a Tennessee mayor or judge can solemnize a marriage under another state's license depends on the host state's law, not Tennessee's.

What is a marriage license actually doing here?

Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-103(a), a marrying couple must present the officiant with a license issued by a Tennessee county clerk directing that officiant to solemnize the marriage. The license is itself a Tennessee public document tied to Tennessee's authority. The AG saw no support for extending that authority across state lines.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee Code Annotated Title 36, Chapter 3, Part 3 governs marriage. The statute is the exclusive source of authority for solemnizing marriages in Tennessee. Bryant v. Townsend, 188 Tenn. 630, 633, 221 S.W.2d 949, 950 (1949). Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a) and (a)(1) list the officials who may perform marriages, including religious leaders and a defined set of current and former elected officials. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(i) says those elected officials "may solemnize the rite of matrimony in any county of this state." A valid marriage requires the license described in Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-103(a). Harlow v. Reliance Nat'l, 91 S.W.3d 243, 245-46 (Tenn. Workers Comp. Panel 2002).

The AG's statutory-interpretation framework: ascertain legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding the statute (Premium Fin. Corp. of Am. v. Crump Ins. Servs. of Memphis, Inc., 978 S.W.2d 91, 93 (Tenn. 1998)); rely on plain and ordinary meaning when the language is unambiguous (Gragg v. Gragg, 12 S.W.3d 412, 415 (Tenn. 2000)); apply expressio unius est exclusio alterius when the legislature has named some things while leaving others unmentioned (Overstreet v. TRW Commercial Steering Div., 256 S.W.3d 626, 633 (Tenn. 2008)).

Citations

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a) (qualifying requirements for officials authorized to solemnize)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a)(1) (list of officials authorized to solemnize)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(i) (geographic limit for elected officials)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-103(a) (marriage license requirement)
• Bryant v. Townsend, 188 Tenn. 630, 221 S.W.2d 949 (1949)
• Harlow v. Reliance Nat'l, 91 S.W.3d 243 (Tenn. Workers Comp. Panel 2002)
• Premium Fin. Corp. of Am. v. Crump Ins. Servs. of Memphis, Inc., 978 S.W.2d 91 (Tenn. 1998)
• Gragg v. Gragg, 12 S.W.3d 412 (Tenn. 2000)
• Overstreet v. TRW Commercial Steering Div., 256 S.W.3d 626 (Tenn. 2008)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2015/op15-47.pdf

Original opinion text

June 3, 2015
Opinion No. 15-47
Solemnizing Marriages Outside Tennessee

Question

May a current or former elected official meeting the requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a) solemnize a wedding ceremony outside Tennessee when executing a license issued by a Tennessee county clerk?

Opinion

No.

ANALYSIS

In Tennessee, solemnization of marriage is governed by statute. Bryant v. Townsend, 188 Tenn. 630, 633, 221 S.W.2d 949, 950 (1949). Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-301(a)(1) specifies by office the elected officials and former elected officials who "may solemnize the rite of matrimony." Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-301(a) imposes some qualifying requirements for the persons specified in § 36-3-301(a)(1).

A marrying couple must "present to the minister or officer a license under the hand of a county clerk in this state, directed to such minister or officer, authorizing the solemnization of a marriage between the parties." Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-103(a). This license is a statutory requirement for valid marriages in Tennessee. Harlow v. Reliance Nat'l, 91 S.W.3d 243, 245-46 (Tenn. Workers Comp. Panel 2002).

Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-301(i) provides that "[a]ll elected officials and former officials, who are authorized to solemnize the rite of matrimony pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a), may solemnize the rite of matrimony in any county of this state." Thus, under the applicable statutory provisions, current and former elected officials meeting the requirements of § 36-3-301(a) "may solemnize the rite of matrimony in any county of this state." Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(i) (emphasis added).

The primary goal in interpreting the statutory provisions relevant to this process is "to ascertain and carry out the legislature's intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute's coverage beyond its intended scope." Premium Fin. Corp. of Am. v. Crump Ins. Servs. of Memphis, Inc., 978 S.W.2d 91, 93 (Tenn. 1998). "When the language of a statute is unambiguous, legislative intent is to be ascertained from the plain and ordinary meaning of the statutory language used." Gragg v. Gragg, 12 S.W.3d 412, 415 (Tenn. 2000).

When the legislature includes some terms but excludes others, the "familiar canon of statutory interpretation . . . expressio unius est exclusio alterius ('to express one thing is to exclude others')" leads to the inference that the others have been purposefully excluded. Overstreet v. TRW Commercial Steering Div., 256 S.W.3d 626, 633 (Tenn. 2008), abrogated on other grounds by 2009 Tenn. Pub. Acts., ch. 486, § 1. Here, the legislature has plainly and unambiguously authorized current and former elected officials to solemnize marriages in all 95 counties of Tennessee but has excluded mention of any other state or county outside Tennessee. By expressing one thing—the 95 counties of Tennessee—the legislature has excluded others—namely other states and counties in other states.

Thus, under the applicable statutory provisions, when executing a license issued by a Tennessee county clerk, a current or former elected official may solemnize the rite of matrimony only in Tennessee. There is no Tennessee statutory authority supporting solemnization of a wedding ceremony by these officials outside Tennessee.

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

JASON I. COLEMAN
Assistant Attorney General

Requested by:
The Honorable Bo Watson
Senate Speaker Pro Tempore
13 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-3227

Footnote: The list of persons who may solemnize a marriage also includes "ministers, preachers, pastors, priests, rabbis and other spiritual leaders of every religious belief." Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a)(1).