Law lets even babies marry with parents' OK

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A law passed this year allows Arkansans of any age — even infants — to marry if their parents agree, and the governor may call a special session to fix the mistake, lawmakers said Friday.

The legislation was intended to establish 18 as the minimum age to marry but also allow pregnant teenagers who are younger to marry with parental consent, bill sponsor Rep. Will Bond said. An extraneous "not" in the bill, however, allows anyone who is not pregnant to marry at any age if parents allow it.

"It's clearly not the intent to allow 10-year-olds or 11-year-olds to get married," Bond said. "The legislation was screwed up."

The bill reads: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."

A code-revision commission — which fixes typographical and technical errors in laws — tried to correct the mistake, but a group of legislators said Friday the commission went beyond its powers.

"You're either pregnant or you're not pregnant," said Sen. Dave Bisbee, a Republican. "Rarely will that be a typographical error."

"We need a special session to fix this," said Sen. Sue Madison, a Democrat. "I am concerned about pedophiles coming to Arkansas to find parents who are willing to sign a very young child's consent."

Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, said he wanted to look at all options for correcting the error before deciding whether to call a special session.