‘I do' take this course

Diving head first into wedded bliss will cost Texans more starting Sept. 1, but there is a way Ector County residents can shave some green off the price hike, Ector County Clerk Linda Haney said.

The Texas Legislature passed HB 2685 in 2007, which raises the statewide fee for licenses to $60 - a fee that is subject to county add-ons as well.

However, the bill also states the fee can be reduced if a couple completes a certified educational marriage course.

"They really do want to promote healthy marriages," Haney said.

In Ector County, the total cost for a marriage license will go from $42 to $72.

Completing the course and earning a certificate in Ector County knocks that all the way down to $12, Haney said.

Odessans Vanessa and Jonathan Arms dodged all that business when they wed Friday. It wasn't an intentional decision though, neither of them knew about the fee increase of the course that could have saved them some money.

"It doesn't matter," Jonathan Arms, 25, said. "A fee's a fee."

Vanessa, 20, said the class could benefit some couples, though.

"I think it's a way to reduce the divorces," she said.

Both agreed the fee change hasn't been communicated well to the public.

Another recently married couple, Heather and Cole Cearley, said they also didn't think the fee change would matter much because people may not have the time to go through a class.

"People will pay the bigger price," the 23-year-old bride said.  

MARRIAGE LICENSE REQUIREMENTS

>> Valid identification, e.g. driver's license.

>> Social Security card.

>> Birth certificate.

MARRIAGE LICENSES IN ECTOR COUNTY

>> 2007: 1,148.

>> 2006: 1,148.

>> 2005: 1,070.

>> 2004: 1,024.

>> 2003: 1,009.

Source: Ector County Clerk's Office

MARRIAGE COURSE WEB PORTAL

>> Ector County Clerk Linda Haney said the Texas Department of State Health Services plans to develop a Web portal for Texas couples to access to determine which organizations in a certain city are certified to teach a marriage education course.

>> If Ector County couples opt to take the course and receive a certification prior to applying for a marriage license, Haney said, the pair could reduce their license fee by $60.