Judicial Technology and Automation Committee
Division of State Court Administration
30 S. Meridian Street, Ste. 500
Indianapolis, IN  46204

Mary DePrez
Director and Counsel for Trial Court Technology

Pho: 317.234.2604
mdeprez@jtac.in.gov

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JTAC > Initiatives and Programs > Marriage License E-File System Marriage License E-File System

Overview

The Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC), Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and Indiana State Library have automated the process for issuing Marriage Licenses at local Circuit Court Clerks' offices. The goal is to collect all the information required just one time and store records electronically so information is easy to retrieve and transmit for state agencies as required by Indiana Code. The database is also searchable.

Every year, about 45,000 couples marry in Indiana and each must go to the clerk’s office for a license. When the project began, the bride’s and groom’s names were each handwritten three times in a cumbersome, paper record book.  That means names were written 270,000 times a year, equal to one name being written every other minute, every day of the year. That doesn’t include the time it took to enter the records into ISDH or ISL databases. 

Learn More About Marriage License e-File at JTAC's Project Blog

Get a PDF Factsheet about Marriage License e-File

How It Works

The Marriage License E-file System is a web-based application available free of charge through JTAC’s secure extranet, INcite (Indiana Court Information Technology Extranet). Clerks use the system to automate and expedite functions previously done by hand. As of Spring 2013, 87 counties were using the system and had issued nearly 120,000 marriage licenses, which accounts for more than 92% of all marriage licenses issued in Indiana.

The electronic Marriage License Application captures the information entered by the Clerk, who then prints an application for the couple to sign, attesting to the accuracy of the personal information. A Marriage License form for the Officiant to sign upon solemnization is also created. The officiant simply returns the license after the ceremony, and the clerk electronically enters the officiant’s information, date and location of the marriage.

Benefits of the System

The new system gives clerks the ability to print a marriage license directly from the web-based system, eliminating the need to purchase costly paper record books. Clerks can also quickly search for marriage records statewide.  When a marriage record is found, the county which originally produced the license may print certified copies without the need to search through stacks of record books.

The Marriage License E-File System ensures current and accurate information will be available to state agencies that require marriage data. JTAC provides system access to ISDH and DCS to allow retrieval of information as required by law (e.g., ISDH and DCS must have access to applicants’ social security numbers). This eliminates the need for counties to forward paper forms to the ISDH, saving duplicate entry time, postage and mailing costs. It also eliminates the need for duplicate data entry by ISDH.

JTAC offers up-to-date public information to citizens via the Internet.  ISDH has begun adding its existing database of marriages since 1993 to the system and it is anticipated the Indiana State Library will also provide its electronic marriage data. This will allow JTAC to create a single, searchable online database of public marriage data for research purposes.

Contact Information

If you are interested in having your county utilize this application or for more information, contact Jill Russell at (317) 234-2734 (Fax: 317-234-2605) or jrussell@jtac.in.gov.