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Committee advances bill allowing counties to add mediation fee to marriage-license costs
Summary
The House Judiciary Committee moved Senate Bill 97A to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation. The bill lets counties optionally increase a portion of marriage-license fees to fund conciliation and mediation services for family-law disputes, and requires quarterly financial reporting of those accounts to local presiding judges.
The House Committee on Judiciary voted to advance Senate Bill 97A to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation. The measure authorizes counties to add an optional fee — up to $35 above the $25 base fee — to marriage licenses and domestic partnership declarations in order to fund conciliation and mediation services.
Kimberly, an Oregon Judicial Department staff member, told the committee the fee is optional and county-by-county: "This is an optional fee that the counties can decide county by county whether or not they want to add it to their marriage license fee. And, the funds have to be used for mediation services, and those services relate to, disputes around parenting time, child custody, and visitation." The bill also allows periodic fee adjustments based on the consumer price index.
The measure requires each county treasurer to provide quarterly financial reports on conciliation and mediation accounts to the presiding judge of the judicial district, and requires presiding judges to provide an annual financial report to the state court administrator. The committee packet listed deadlines for the first quarterly reports by Oct. 31, 2025 and the first annual reports by July 31, 2026. The bill declares an emergency and the committee's summary noted minimal fiscal or revenue effects.
Committee action Vice Chair Chotson moved the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the motion passed on a committee roll call.
Discussion versus decision - Discussion: Staff described the optional fee, eligible uses for mediation services and reporting requirements. - Direction: Counties may opt in and set the optional fee; reporting deadlines were specified in the committee materials. - Formal action: SB 97A moved to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation.
What remains Implementation depends on county adoption decisions; counties that opt in will need to set the fee locally and follow the reporting schedule specified in the bill.
