A bill would allow mayors to officiate at weddings.

Senate Bill 992 was sponsored by freshman Democratic Sen. Don Davis, the former mayor of Snow Hill, N.C.

The Senate had little debate on the issue, though Sen. Jim Forrester said that he had hoped to add an amendment that would have put a constitutional ban on gay marriage up for a statewide referendum.

Forrester filed a separate bill on the gay-marriage ban that Senate leadership essentially killed by leaving it in committee.

"If we don't get it in the constitution, I'm afraid it's going to happen to us just like Vermont," he said.

The bill passed 35-9 and now heads to the House.

Several other bills this session have also sought to expand who can perform weddings. One already signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue, allows Superior Court judges to officiate.

Another bill stuck in a House committee would have allowed any judge, while a third would allow retired judges. A Senate bill to allow any judge passed and is now before a House committee.

What has Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law?

As of mid-week in crossover, the governor has signed 14 bills into law:

* S.B. 287: Reduces benefits to State Health Plan in effort to keep it solvent.

* S.B. 89: Designates Grandfather Mountain as a state park.

* H.B. 494: Allows Superior Court judges to perform weddings.

* H.B. 613: Says state does not approve of building a Navy landing field in a county that does not already have a military base.

* S.B. 198: Allows the governor to name another public school employee to the State Board of Education.

* S.B. 127: Restricts state management of institutional funds.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly included local bills and resolutions that do not require the governor's signature. 

More after the jump.

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State judges are a step closer to having the right to officiate weddings.

The state Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Monday night that would grant judges the authority, Dan Kane reports.

Each session lawmakers routinely pass bills granting a certain judge the right to perform a wedding on a particular weekend. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said that's a waste of time.

"We've had two such bills this session," said Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat. "We've had at least 10 in the last eight or nine years to do this and these individual bills just clog up the administration of what we are about and take up our time. This would allow judges to marry people if they want to."

The bill passed by a 39-5 vote. It now goes to the House.

Sen. Tony Rand has made good on his threat.

The Democratic majority leader filed this bill today:

S.B. 59: Any Judge/Justice May Perform Marriage

Rand had said that he would file that bill if state judges kept asking for exceptions to the law that only allows ordained ministers, Native American religious leaders and magistrates to officiate weddings.

Sen. Tony Rand is already annoyed about another marriage waiver.

The Senate Majority Leader said he gets hot under the collar when judges ask for special exemptions to the statutes that restrict them from performing weddings. 

"Either judges can conduct weddings, or judges can't conduct weddings," he told Dome. "The judges say they don't want to conduct weddings until junior wants to get married, and then they want us to make an exception."

A bill this year would allow retired state judges to perform weddings. Under state law, only ordained ministers, certain Native American religious leaders and magistrates can serve as officiants.

Rand noted that his son, Ripley, is a Superior Court judge.

"I have told him that if he ever suggests anything like that to me, I'm going to change my name," he said. 

Another theory why most judges can't officiate: They don't want to.

N.C. Bar Association spokesman Russell Rawlings said he's now heard a second theory on why judges higher than the magistrate level can't perform weddings.

He said that state law allowed it at one point, but elected judges felt that it was an imposition. Since they run for office regularly, they had a hard time saying no to requests from voters, but they felt it was a drain on their time.

"They felt they would end up marrying anyone who wanted to pop into a courtroom, get married and move on," he said.

Neither Rawlings nor Dome has yet found evidence to back up this theory in newspaper archives or on the legislative Web site.

A bill introduced this session would allow retired state judges to officiate.

Why can't most judges officiate at weddings?

Dome is looking into that question, but N.C. Bar Association spokesman Russell Rawlings had a theory.

"Back when this law started, there wasn't but one judge in many areas, especially up in the mountains," he said.

That could have put a judge in a conflict of interest if one of the people who he married showed up as part of a criminal or civil case — or even a divorce — in his courtroom, Rawlins speculated.

The state law dates to 1871. 

Previously: Bill would allow retired judges to officiate 

Judges have asked to perform weddings before.

In 2001, the legislature passed a bill allowing Superior Court judges to officiate at weddings from May 19 to May 28 of that year.

The bill was written to allow Duplin County Judge Russell Lanier to officiate at his daughter's wedding.

It was added as a provision to an omnibus bill amending marriage statutes signed into law just weeks before the scheduled wedding.

Under state law, only ordained ministers, certain Native American religious leaders and magistrates can serve as officiants — not any other type of judge.

Magistrates are the lowest level of the state's judicial system. Typically they issue arrest warrants, set bail, try small-claims cases and issue subpoenas. They also perform marriages for a small fee or between breaks at the county jailhouse.

(Dome once stumbled onto a late-night wedding while doing police rounds. The bride wore white; the groom, black; the magistrate, a sweater vest behind bulletproof glass.)

A bill introduced this session would allow retired state judges to officiate as well. Like the earlier legislation, it was also written to help a specific judge — in this case, retired N.C. Appeals Court Judge Eddie Greene.

Steve Troxler reached across an aisle usually reserved for walking down.

This past weekend, the Republican agriculture commissioner's son, Shawn, married the daughter of staunch Democratic supporter and activist Roni Roberg at the Long View Center in Raleigh.

The happy occasion led to more than one bipartisan moment, as many of the bride's friends and family ended up on the groom's side of the church, and vice versa, leading to a mixed crowd.

Still, Troxler stuck to his own party when it came to renting a place for the rehearsal dinner, choosing the Gov. Jim Martin building at the N.C. State Fairgrounds — named for a former Republican.

He was reportedly philosophical about the wedding. 

"You have to get votes any way you can," he said in a statement. "We both made a concerted effort to reach across the aisle."

Jerry Meek, North Carolina's Democratic Party chairman, has become engaged to Tricia Cotham, a Democratic legislator from Charlotte.

Meek, of Fayetteville, popped the question Friday night at a cabin in Bryson City, but only after clearing the schedule with Cotham's campaign manager, reports Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer.

Cotham, 29, is the state's youngest legislator. Meek, 37, is the nation's youngest party chairman.

The two started dating last summer, a few months after Cotham won a special election to fill the seat of disgraced House Speaker Jim Black. Cotham faces a primary on May 6 and, if she wins, a Republican challenge in November.

All that, plus the legislature's schedule, makes it hard to set a wedding date.

"So I have a little different things to think about than the average bride," she said this morning.