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   ISSUES  > Family and Marriage
 
North Dakota  

State Information

Government Website: http://www.state.nd.us/lr/

Outline of State Law
Current Status of Law Concerning Marriage and Date of Passage 1997 - State Law Passed  2004 - Constitutional Amendment 
State Law Prohibits/Voids Same Sex/Same Gender Marriage yes  yes 
State Law Defines Marriage between a Man and a Woman yes  yes 
State Law Denies Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages Solemnized in Other States yes  no 
State Law States that Same Sex Marriage is not Aligned with State Public Policy no  no 
State Law Defines "Spouse" as Referring Only to a Person of the Opposite Sex Who is Married as Husband or Wife yes  no 

Statutory Provision

North Dakota Century Code. Chap. 14, § 03. 

§ 03-01.  What constitutes marriage - Spouse defined.
Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between one man and one woman to which the consent of the parties is essential. The marriage relation may be entered into, maintained, annulled, or dissolved only as provided by law. A spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

§ 03-08. Foreign marriages recognized - Exception.
Except when residents of this state contract a marriage in another state which is prohibited under the laws of this state, all marriages contracted outside this state, which are valid according to the laws of the state or country where contracted, are valid in this state. This section applies only to a marriage contracted in another state or country which is between one man and one woman as husband and wife.

Constitutional Provision

North Dakota Constitution.  Art. 11, § 28. 

Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.

U.S. Senators
US Senators and their Comments on FMA

Kent Conrad, Democrat
http://www.senate.gov/~conrad/
This senator voted for the federal DOMA in 1996 but against the Marriage Protection Amendment in 2004 and 2006.

Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat
http://dorgan.senate.gov/
This senator voted for the federal DOMA in 1996 but against the Marriage Protection Amendment in 2004 and 2006.

State Public Policy Organizations Working on Marriage Issues

North Dakota Family Alliance



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