Statutory Revision Committee advances bill to clarify common-law marriage after SB 25-14 drafting oversight

Shelby Ross of the Office of Legislative Legal Services told the Statutory Revision Committee that LLS 260670 is intended to resolve a drafting oversight created by last year’s Senate Bill 25-14 and to clarify the validity of common-law marriages in Colorado. Ross said the prior bill repealed subsection 3 of section 14-2-104 and that the repeal has created an apparent conflict with section 14-2-109.5, which addresses common-law marriage formalities.

Representative Cecilia Espinosa asked whether the proposed fix would affect recognition of same-sex common-law marriages under section 14-2-109.5. Ross replied, “No. It is not touching anything related to who can get married as modified by Senate Bill 14 last year. This is simply just recreating a provision that was repealed.”

Ross told the committee the intent is to reenact the prior subsection with limited amendments to eliminate confusion caused by the repeal. She acknowledged the change stems from a drafting oversight, saying she “probably should have left subsection 3 in and just struck in 1 man and 1 woman to align with the intent and instead, I repealed the entire subsection, which I think is causing confusion.”

Committee members asked procedural and drafting questions. Senator Ball asked why subsection 3 had been struck; Ross characterized it as an oversight and said she had contacted the original sponsors of SB 25-14, who agreed the repeal produced an unintended effect. Committee member Morris had proposed small, non-substantive wording tweaks; Ross said she would accept and implement technical edits and recommended that the committee authorize OLLS to make technical corrections prior to introduction.

Representative (Vice Chair) Cecilia Espinosa moved to introduce LLS 26-0670 as a statutory revision committee bill with authority for OLLS to make technical corrections. The motion was seconded and passed with no objection. Sponsors selected to carry the measure were Rep. Espinosa and Rep. Luck in the House and Senators Ball and Catlin in the Senate; Rep. Carter signed on as a cosponsor.

Next steps: the bill will be introduced as a statutory revision committee bill and proceed through the regular legislative process with the committee’s chosen sponsors. No litigation related to the drafting issue was identified during the discussion.