Make new connections and nurture opportunities! Mix and mingle with your fellow JPs and town clerks. We hope to see you at our Holiday Networking Event   **UPDATE: Event at Bertucci’s in Waltham, MA has been rescheduled. Stay-tuned for new date.**   Getting together with our colleagues creates new opportunities and connections – and it’s fun! JPs, town clerks and other stakeholders are all invited to attend. This will be a terrific opportunity to meet and connect with our fellow officiants, municipal and state leaders on a social level. Let’s build upon our shared interests and find new ones. Getting to know some of […]

Background Even though New Hampshire’s minimum age to wed was 13 (girls) and 14 (boys), 2017 efforts to raise the age were unsuccessful. In 2018, the New Hampshire legislature voted to increase the state’s minimum age to wed to 16. That law went into effect on January 1, 2019. Efforts continue to eliminate marriage for all minor children under the age of 18. The push behind the 2018 bill was Cassandra Levesque. She was a high school graduating senior and girl scout, pursuing her passion. The experience is what led her to run for office, and she is now a […]

About Vermont JPs Information from the Vermont Justice of the Peace Guide   HOW TO BECOME A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE To become a justice of the peace, you must be elected at a general election or be appointed to fill a vacancy. Although elected by a town, justices of the peace are actually county officers.  ELECTION OF JUSTICES A person must be a legal voter of the town and have been nominated by party caucus or, failing that, by the town committee in order to be elected justice of the peace. A person may also run as an independent. NUMBER […]

Town, City and County Clerks Clerks and JPs: A Natural Partnership Town and county clerks are important and valued stakeholders of the Justice of the Peace Association. They have a complementary relationship with JPs, as both engage with couples at different stages of the marriage’s legal process. We love to work together to achieve our shared goals, like we did with Connecticut and Massachusetts town clerks when we squashed proposed JP for a Day legislation in Connecticut. Or efforts in Massachusetts to address the problems with the One-Day Solemnizer rule. Email Sign-up Form Offices of the Secretaries of State Collaborating with the […]

Special Marriage Officiants JPus’ Oral Testimony In response to our membership’s opposition to the New Hampshire special marriage officiant bill, JPus testified in person three times to the legislature; we provided alternative solutions that would satisfy all stakeholders. We also submitted written testimony, and eventually the bill died in conference. JPus’ Written Testimony January 16, 2019 to the House Judiciary Committee March 6, 2019 to the House Ways and Means Committee April 23, 2019 to the Senate Judiciary Committee May 30, 2019 to all members of the Senate Related Links Why JPus got involved in the special marriage officiant bill. Read all about the […]