HB 2205 Oklahoma House · 2026 Regular Session

Marriage; ceremonies; effective date.

HB 2205 clarifies which religious officials can legally officiate marriage ceremonies in Oklahoma. It modifies the existing law by removing the phrase "of the Gospel" after "preacher" and updating the list of authorized officiants to include "deacon, elder of the Gospel, priest" instead of the previous wording. This is a technical correction to the bill's language, not a substantive policy change affecting new groups or altering marriage requirements. The bill focuses solely on precise wording for religious officiants performing ceremonies.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Apr 8, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

House Committee Substitute Floor (House) · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted from a House Committee Substitute version to the Floor version, with minor structural adjustments to the header and page numbering. The substantive legislative content regarding marriage ceremony requirements, officiant qualifications, and effective dates remains unchanged.
TECHNICAL

Header text changed from 'HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION' to replace the committee substitute label, indicating the bill has moved to the House floor for consideration.

Page numbering and footer formatting were updated to reflect the floor version with new page headers and footers.

Line breaks and spacing were adjusted throughout the document to conform to floor version formatting standards.

Floor votes · House Mar 12, 2025

How they voted

815
Passed · 14 other
Total votes 100
Mar 12, 2025
D Democratic19
14 Yea 1 Nay 4
73% Yea
R Republican81
67 Yea 4 Nay 10
82% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
15
Key actions
4
Committee
4
Mar 13, 2025
Introduced
First Reading
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Engrossed, signed, to Senate
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Committee
Referred for engrossment
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Third Reading, Measure passed: Ayes: 80 Nays: 5
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
CR; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Health and Human Services Oversight Committee
lower
Feb 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Policy recommendation to the Health and Human Services Oversight committee; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Children, Youth and Family Services
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Committee
Referred to Children, Youth and Family Services
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Introduced
First Reading
lower
2 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors