Hennepin County ends Social Security requirement for marriage license

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Hennepin County has agreed to end its practice of denying marriage licenses to people without Social Security numbers.

The agreement is part of an out-of-court settlement reached July Second with Shira Levenson and Miguel Acuna. They had applied for a marriage license in February in Minneapolis. The application was denied because Levenson's Peruvian-born fiance had arrived on a special visa for those about to marry U-S citizens and he didn't have a Social Security number.

The couple flew to Las Vegas to get married, but the 27-year-old Minneapolis woman also sued.

It turned out that Hennepin County was interpreting a 1997 child-support law in such a way that it wound up denying marriage licenses to legally eligible people. Hennepin County auditor/treasurer Jill Alverson says the county simply thought it was following state law.

Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 07-16-07 0825CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list