Our complete list of the 12 Mississippi Code Annotated relevant to marriage. American Marriage Ministries provides a comprehensive list of laws for Mississippi related to the marriage license, who can officiate weddings, and officiant registration.
The law(s) below are the relevant statutes relating to who can solemnize marriage and officiant registration in Mississippi (where applicable).
Any minister of the gospel ordained according to the rules of his church or society, in good standing; any Rabbi or other spiritual leader of any other religious body authorized under the rules of such religious body to solemnize rites of matrimony and being in good standing; any judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit court, chancery court or county court may solemnize the rites of matrimony between any persons anywhere within this state who shall produce a license granted as herein directed. Justice court judges and members of the boards of supervisors may likewise solemnize the rites of matrimony within their respective counties. Any marriages performed by a mayor of a municipality prior to March 14, 1994 are valid provided such marriages satisfy the requirements of Section 93-1-18.
Codes, Hutchinson’s 1848, ch. 34, art. 1 (1); 1857, ch. 40, art. 1; 1871, § 1755; 1880, § 1150; 1892, § 2862; 1906, § 3247; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2554; 1930, § 2365; 1942, § 463; Laws, 1962, ch. 490; Laws, 1984, ch. 412; Laws, 1993, ch. 518, § 35; Laws, 1994, ch. 330, § 2, eff from and after passage (approved March 14, 1994).
Below you can read through our curated list of all Mississippi laws related to marriage, weddings, officiants, and marriage licenses. If it is in any way marriage related, you will find it here.
Any minister of the gospel ordained according to the rules of his church or society, in good standing; any Rabbi or other spiritual leader of any other religious body authorized under the rules of such religious body to solemnize rites of matrimony and being in good standing; any judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit court, chancery court or county court may solemnize the rites of matrimony between any persons anywhere within this state who shall produce a license granted as herein directed. Justice court judges and members of the boards of supervisors may likewise solemnize the rites of matrimony within their respective counties. Any marriages performed by a mayor of a municipality prior to March 14, 1994 are valid provided such marriages satisfy the requirements of Section 93-1-18.
Codes, Hutchinson’s 1848, ch. 34, art. 1 (1); 1857, ch. 40, art. 1; 1871, § 1755; 1880, § 1150; 1892, § 2862; 1906, § 3247; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2554; 1930, § 2365; 1942, § 463; Laws, 1962, ch. 490; Laws, 1984, ch. 412; Laws, 1993, ch. 518, § 35; Laws, 1994, ch. 330, § 2, eff from and after passage (approved March 14, 1994).
(1) The son shall not marry his grandmother, his mother, or his stepmother; the brother his sister; the father his daughter, or his legally adopted daughter, or his grand-daughter; the son shall not marry the daughter of his father begotten of his stepmother, or his aunt, being his father’s or mother’s sister, nor shall the children of brother or sister, or brothers and sisters intermarry being first cousins by blood. The father shall not marry his son’s widow; a man shall not marry his wife’s daughter, or his wife’s daughter’s daughter, or his wife’s son’s daughter, or the daughter of his brother or sister; and the like prohibition shall extend to females in the same degrees. All marriages prohibited by this subsection are incestuous and void. (2) Any marriage between persons of the same gender is prohibited and null and void from the beginning. Any marriage between persons of the same gender that is valid in another jurisdiction does not constitute a legal or valid marriage in Mississippi.
Codes, Hutchinson’s 1848, ch. 34, art. 1 (8); 1857, ch. 40, art. 8; 1871, §§ 1762, 1763; 1880, §§ 1145, 1146; 1892, §§ 2857, 2858; 1906, §§ 3242, 3243; Hemingway’s 1917, §§ 2549, 2550; 1930, §§ 2359, 2360; 1942, §§ 457, 458; Laws, 1922, ch. 235; Laws, 1946, ch. 283, § 1; Laws, 1997, ch. 301, § 1, eff from and after passage (approved February 12, 1997).
It shall be lawful for a pastor of any religious society in this state to join together in marriage such persons of the society to whom a marriage license has been issued, according to the rules and customs established by the society. The clerk or keeper of the minutes, proceedings, or other books of the religious society wherein such marriage shall be had and solemnized, shall make a true and faithful register of all marriages solemnized in the society, in a book kept by him for that purpose, and return a certificate of the same to the clerk of the circuit court of the county, to be by him recorded, under the penalty prescribed in Section 93-1-21.
Codes, Hutchinson’s 1848, ch. 34, art. 1 (2); 1857, ch. 40, art. 2; 1871, § 1756; 1880, § 1151; 1892, § 2863; 1906, § 3248; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2555; 1930, § 2366; 1942, § 464.
A marriage shall not be contracted or solemnized unless a license therefor shall first have been duly issued. No irregularity in the issuance of or omission in the license shall invalidate any marriage, nor shall this section be construed so as to invalidate any marriage that is good at common law.
Codes, 1892, § 2864; Laws, 1906, § 3249; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2556; Laws, 1930, § 2367; Laws, 1942, § 465.
(1) Every male who is at least seventeen (17) years old and every female who is at least fifteen (15) years old shall be capable in law of contracting marriage. However, males and females under the age twenty-one (21) years must furnish the circuit clerk satisfactory evidence of consent to the marriage by the parents or guardians of the parties. It shall be unlawful for the circuit court clerk to issue a marriage license until the following conditions precedent have been complied with: (a) Application for the license is to be made in writing to the clerk of the circuit court of any county in the State of Mississippi. The application shall be sworn to by both applicants and shall include: (i) The names, ages and addresses of the parties applying; (ii) The names and addresses of the parents of the applicants, and, for applicants under the age of twenty-one (21), if no parents, then names and addresses of the guardian or next of kin; (iii) The signatures of witnesses; and (iv) Any other data that may be required by law or the State Board of Health. (b) Proof of age shall be presented to the circuit court clerk in the form of either a birth certificate, baptismal record, armed service discharge, armed service identification card, life insurance policy, insurance certificate, school record, driver’s license, or other official document evidencing age. The document substantiating age and date of birth shall be examined by the circuit court clerk before whom application is made, and the circuit court clerk shall retain in his file with the application the document or a certified or photostatic copy of the document. (c) Applicants under the age of twenty-one (21) must submit affidavits showing the age of both applying parties made by either the father, mother, guardian or next of kin of each of the contracting parties and filed with the clerk of the circuit court along with the application. (d) If the male applicant is under seventeen (17) years of age or the female is under fifteen (15) years of age, and satisfactory proof is furnished to the judge of any circuit, chancery or county court that sufficient reasons exist and that the parties desire to be married to each other and that the parents or other person in loco parentis of the person or persons so under age consent to the marriage, then the judge of any such court in the county where either of the parties resides may waive the minimum age requirement and by written instrument authorize the clerk of the court to issue the marriage license to the parties if they are otherwise qualified by law. Authorization shall be a part of the confidential files of the clerk of the court, subject to inspection only by written permission of the judge. (e) In no event shall a license be issued by the circuit court clerk when it appears to the circuit court clerk that the applicants are, or either of them is: (i) Intoxicated; or (ii) Suffering from a mental illness or an intellectual disability to the extent that the clerk believes that the person does not understand the nature and consequences of the application for a marriage license. (2) Any circuit clerk shall be liable under his official bond because of noncompliance with the provisions of this section. (3) Any circuit court clerk who issues a marriage license without complying with the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) and not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
Codes, 1930, § 2363; 1942, § 461; Laws, 1930, ch. 237; Laws, 1957, Ex. ch. 17, § 1; Laws, 1983, ch. 522, § 48; Laws, 2008, ch. 442, § 24; Laws, 2010, ch. 476, § 78; Laws, 2012, ch. 431, § 1, eff from and after July 1, 2012.
Any attempt to evade Section 93-1-1 by marrying out of this state and returning to it shall be within the prohibitions of said section.
Codes, 1880, § 1147; 1892, § 2859; 1906, § 3244; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2551; 1930, § 2361; 1942, § 459.
The failure to comply with the provisions of Sections 93-1-5 and 93-1-7 shall not affect the validity of any marriage duly solemnized, followed by cohabitation.
Codes, 1942, § 461.2; Laws, 1957, Ex. ch. 17, § 3, eff July 1, 1958.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any clerk to issue a marriage license between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. When a clerk shall issue a license he shall certify on said license the time when it was issued. (2) Any clerk violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
Codes, 1942, § 461.5; Laws, 1950, ch. 282, §§ 1, 2.
(1) No marriage contracted after April 5, 1956 shall be valid unless the contracting parties shall have obtained a marriage license as otherwise required by law, and unless also the marriage, after such license shall have been duly issued therefor, shall have been performed by or before any person, religious society, institution, or organization authorized by Sections 93-1-17 and 93-1-19 to solemnize marriages. Failure in any case to comply with both prerequisites aforesaid, which shall also be construed as mandatory and not merely directory, shall render the purported marriage absolutely void and any children born as a result thereof illegitimate. (2) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to affect the validity of any marriage, either ceremonial or common law, contracted prior to April 5, 1956.
Codes, 1942, § 465.5; Laws, 1956, ch. 239, §§ 1, 2.
Any marriages performed by a mayor of a municipality prior to March 14, 1994 are validated unless they have been invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction, provided that all other requirements of law have been met and the marriages would have been valid if performed by an official authorized by law to solemnize the rites of matrimony.
Laws, 1994, ch. 330, § 1, eff from and after passage (approved March 14, 1994).
The clerk of the circuit court in each county shall be the legal custodian of the records and papers relating to marriage licenses and certificates of marriage formerly kept by the clerk of the probate court of each county.
Codes, 1871, § 570; 1880, § 1492; 1892, § 2865; 1906, § 3250; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2557; 1930, § 2368; 1942, § 466.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit or cause to be solicited within any courthouse, premises or grounds or lots on which the courthouse may be located in any county within the State of Mississippi, for himself or for and on behalf of any minister or other person, the performance of a marriage ceremony. (2) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for the first conviction, and for any second or subsequent conviction, by a fine not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Codes, 1942, § 466.5; Laws, 1956, ch. 240, §§ 1, 2.
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