00HOUSE BILL NO. 270                                                                                                      
01 "An Act relating to premarital relationship counseling; amending Rule 9(e)(7),                                          
02 Administrative Rules of Court."                                                                                         
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1.  AS 25.05.241 is amended by adding new subsections to read:                                             
05  (b)  If each contracting party for a marriage license has submitted to the                                            
06 licensing officer a certificate attesting under oath or affirmation of the counselor and                                
07 the party that the party has completed at least four hours of relationship counseling in                                
08 the six months immediately preceding submission of the certificate under this                                           
09 subsection, the marriage license fee is $25.00; otherwise, the fee is $300.00.                                          
10  (c)  Except for the information required on the marriage license application                                          
11 form, information given by a marriage license applicant under (b) of this section is                                    
12 confidential, is not subject to inspection or copying under AS 09.25.100 - 09.25.220,                                   
13 and may not be released by any person.                                                                                  
14  (d)  In this section,                                                                                                 

01   (1)  "counselor" means a                                                                                             
02   (A)  person licensed under state law to perform counseling                                                          
03 activities;                                                                                                             
04   (B)  rabbi, priest, minister, Christian Science practitioner,                                                       
05 member of the clergy, or other similar religious practitioner of a religious                                            
06 denomination, or a tribally recognized traditional healer or counselor if the                                           
07 person is engaged in activities that are within the scope of the performance of                                         
08 the person's regular or specialized duties and the person remains accountable                                           
09 to the established authority of the religious denomination or the ruling body of                                        
10 the tribal group; or                                                                                                    
11   (C) member of the staff of a nonprofit corporation whose                                                            
12 business includes the provision of relationship counseling;                                                             
13   (2)  "relationship counseling" means face-to-face lectures, group                                                    
14 counseling, individual counseling, or testing designed to                                                               
15   (A)  provide basic knowledge about the characteristics of                                                           
16 successful partnerships, including mutual responsibility, mutual respect,                                               
17 developing win-win solutions to problems, and the importance of                                                         
18 communication and working together;                                                                                     
19   (B)  explore areas of compatibility and incompatibility in the                                                      
20 relationship of  two parties who are contemplating marriage to each other;                                              
21   (C)  make each party aware of potential problem areas in the                                                        
22 proposed marriage and  possible ways of meeting the  problems;                                                          
23   (D)  induce reconsideration or postponement where either party                                                      
24 is not sufficiently mature, is not financially capable of meeting the                                                   
25 responsibilities of marriage, or is marrying for reasons not conducive to a                                             
26 sound, lasting marriage.                                                                                                
27    * Sec. 2.  COURT RULE CHANGE.  AS 25.05.241(b), enacted by sec. 1 of this Act, has                                   
28 the effect of amending Rule 9(e)(7), Administrative Rules of Court, by establishing in statute                          
29 fees for issuance of a marriage license.                                                                                
30    * Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to a marriage license issued on or after the                             
31 effective date of this Act.