§ 19-3-48.Penalty for officiating at illegal marriage ceremony
Chapter 3. Marriage Generally · Article 2. License and Ceremony · Last amended 2010 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-3-48
Plain-English Summary
This is the criminal counterpart to the civil forfeiture in § 19-3-46. It applies to the Governor or a former Governor, any judge, city recorder, magistrate, minister or other person authorized to perform the marriage ceremony, and it describes two ways an officiant commits a misdemeanor.
The first is joining a couple in marriage without a license or the publication of banns. The second is performing a ceremony when the officiant knows of any disability of either party that would render a contract of marriage improper and illegal. Knowledge is the key word in that second offense. The statute doesn’t define “disability,” but § 19-3-2 lists what a person must have to be able to contract marriage: a sound mind, the minimum age, no living spouse of a previous undissolved marriage, and no relationship to the other party within the prohibited degrees, which § 19-3-3 lists.
The section was last amended in 2010. Its duties fit with the rest of Article 2: § 19-3-30 directs the license to the officiant and requires its return within 30 days after the marriage, § 19-3-39 covers certification after banns, and § 19-3-42 keeps an otherwise valid marriage from failing because the officiant lacked authority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to officiate a wedding without a marriage license in Georgia?
Can an officiant get in trouble for marrying someone who is already married?
Yes, if the officiant knows. The section makes it a misdemeanor to perform a ceremony when the officiant knows of any disability of either party that would make the marriage improper and illegal. Under § 19-3-2, a person with a living spouse of a previous undissolved marriage isn’t able to contract marriage. Without that knowledge, this part of the section doesn’t reach the officiant.
What counts as a “disability” that makes a marriage illegal?
The section doesn’t define the word. Code Section 19-3-2 lists what a person needs to be able to contract marriage: a sound mind; the minimum age (18, or 17 with emancipation and that section’s other conditions); no living spouse of an undissolved marriage; and no relationship to the other party within the prohibited degrees. Section 19-3-3 lists those degrees, such as parent and child, brother and sister, and grandparent and grandchild.
Does this law apply to ministers and judges alike?
Yes. It covers the Governor or any former Governor, any judge, city recorder, magistrate, minister, or other person authorized to perform the marriage ceremony. A similar list appears in § 19-3-30(c), which directs the marriage license to the people who may perform the ceremony.
Is the couple guilty of a crime if they marry without a license?
This section doesn’t say so; it addresses the person performing the ceremony. Couples face their own criminal exposure in other sections: § 19-3-47 makes it a misdemeanor to willfully give false information to get a license, and § 19-3-3 makes it a crime to marry a person one knows is a close relative within the degrees it lists.
Amendment History
Cobb's 1851 Digest, pp. 818, 819; Laws 1982, p. 3, § 19; Laws 1983, p. 884, § 4-1; Laws 2010, Act 439, § 5, eff. July 1, 2010.
Formerly Code 1863, § 4441; Code 1868, § 4482; Code 1873, § 4566; Code 1882, § 4566; Penal Code 1895, § 637; Penal Code 1910, § 677; Code 1933, § 53-9901.