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City Manager Office www.santa-ana.org/city-managers-office/ Item # 29 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701 Staff Report May 3, 2022 TOPIC: Child Marriage Laws AGENDA TITLE: Resolution Calling Upon Our State Legislators to Introduce and Pass a Bill that Would End Child Marriage RECOMMENDED ACTION Adopt a resolution calling upon our state legislators to introduce and pass a bill that would end child marriage. DISCUSSION Background During the City Council meeting on March 15, 2022, Councilmembers Mendoza, Lopez, and Phan directed staff to prepare a resolution to call upon our State legislators to introduce a bill that would end child marriage in California. There was consensus among the City Council to support this item. Statistics from both the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey indicate that child marriages have been steadily declining over the last couple of decades at the state and national level, but there continues to be 44 states that allow child marriages (defined as a marriage where one or both of the individuals is 17 years and younger). Since 2018, six states have banned child marriages without exceptions. As it stands, California is one of nine states that has no minimum age for child marriage when all exemptions are taken into account. These circumstances include the consent of a court clerk or judge, consent of one of the parents or legal guardians of the minor, if one of the parties is pregnant or has given birth to a child, or if the minor is emancipated. Existing California Law Current California law requires the parents and partners of minors wishing to marry to meet with court officials separately to determine if there is any coercion. Additionally, minors have to wait 30 days to get married unless they are 17 and have completed high