Each clerk shall keep in the clerk’s office a marriage license book or electronic record, which shall contain: a complete record of each license issued; a complete record of all matters the clerk is required to ascertain that relate to the rights of an individual to obtain a license; in regular order, the items testified to by the applicants for a license as required under this title; properly indexed, the name of each individual who intends to be married; and the date each certificate was filed and the name of the authorized official who performed the ceremony.

In this section, “foreign marriage” means a marriage ceremony: performed outside this State; and in which 1 or both of the parties were or are citizens of this State. Each clerk shall keep a foreign marriage record book in the clerk’s office. The clerk shall record a foreign marriage when presented with either: a certificate of marriage signed by the individual who performed the marriage ceremony; or an official certified copy of a marriage record. On request, the clerk shall provide, under the seal of the court, certification of a foreign marriage in the same manner as the clerk issues certification of a marriage ceremony performed in this State.

At the intervals that the Secretary of Health sets, each clerk shall send to the Secretary: a copy of the record of each marriage that the clerk licenses and records; a report of each divorce that the court grants; a report of each annulment of a marriage that the court: grants; or effects by entering a conviction of bigamy or of marrying within any prohibited degree; and a report of any change in a marriage, divorce, or annulment record, in which the clerk shall certify that the change is correct and conforms to the corresponding record of the clerk. The report of a divorce or annulment or of a change in a marriage, divorce, or annulment record shall be made on the form that the Secretary of Health provides. The Secretary of Health may make photostatic, photographic, or microphotographic copies of the original marriage records of a clerk. The Secretary of Health may not remove any original marriage record from the custody of the clerk. The Secretary of Health shall: make the copies in a manner that does not interfere with the orderly transaction of business by the clerk; and bear the cost of making the copies. The clerk may not receive any extra compensation for sending a report or record to the Secretary or for making records available to the Secretary. A clerk who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine of $10 for each offense.

On written request, made under penalty of perjury, of both parties to a marriage, the clerk for the county that issued the marriage license shall issue a new marriage record in accordance with this section if the clerk received satisfactory proof that a court of competent jurisdiction, regardless of location, has issued an order for a change of name for a party to the marriage. On the presentation of a death certificate for a party to a marriage, the clerk for the county that issued the marriage license shall accept a request made under paragraph (1) of this subsection from the other party to the marriage. On the presentation of an order of the court instructing a marriage record to be changed, the clerk for the county that issued the marriage license shall accept a request under paragraph (1) of this subsection without a written request of both parties. A new marriage record issued under this section shall: if the original marriage record designates the gender of the parties, including by using the terms “bride”, “groom”, “wife”, or “husband”, designate the parties using gender–neutral language; and if the name of a party to the marriage has been changed at any time, reflect the name that was most recently established and for which a certified order of change of name or other appropriate evidence has been submitted to the clerk. A new marriage record issued under subsection (a) of this section may not: be marked “amended”; or show on its face that a change has been made to: a name of a party; or if applicable, a gender designation. If a new marriage record is issued, the clerk shall: substitute the new electronic marriage record for the existing marriage record then on file; and report and transmit a copy of the new marriage record to the Secretary of Health in accordance with § 2–503 of this title. After a marriage record is changed under this section, any certified copy of the marriage record that is issued shall be a copy of the new marriage record, unless a court of competent jurisdiction orders the issuance of a copy of the original marriage record.