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07-31-2005, 09:04 AM
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http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifPosted on Sun, Jul. 31, 2005http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifhttp://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
State age to wed could change
Kansas, like many states, has set no minimum age for marriage. Some lawmakers want to change that.
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle
Local legislators say they want to revisit the state's marriage law after a 22-year-old Nebraska man brought his pregnant 13-year-old girlfriend to Kansas to marry her.
Matthew Koso of Falls City, Neb., has been charged with having sex with an underage girl. And Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning last week called the Kansas law permitting the marriage ridiculous.
Kansas Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, used the same word for the law. He said he did not realize it set no minimum age for marriage.
"I'll bet it's one of the first things we look at when we go back into session," Myers said. "I think we'll probably jump right on that one."
Rep. Jo Ann Pottorff, R-Wichita, said she was shocked to learn a 13-year-old girl could marry in Kansas.
"I'm sure we'll be looking at something next session," she said.
Kansas is among more than 40 states without a mandatory minimum age for marriage. But being part of a large crowd didn't make startled lawmakers any happier. Only about half a dozen states have set minimum ages for marriage.
Five girls under the age of 15 got married in Kansas in 2003, the most recent year for which data is available. Three were married in 2002, and six were married in 2001, according to statistics compiled by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Every state requires children under the age of 18 to obtain outside consent -- from parents, guardians or a court -- before they can marry.
Kansas requires the consent of at least one parent or guardian and a judge, or all living parents and guardians, for a marriage license to be granted to someone under 18.
But child services officials question whether current law goes far enough.
"How old are these laws?" asked Vickie McArthur, director of prevention and community services for the Kansas Children's Service League. "Historically, people married at a much younger age, before we really had an adolescence.
"When life expectancy was lower, you were thrown into a working life and married life much sooner.... That's not where we are today."
Kansas first passed a marriage law in 1867, six years after becoming a state and two years after the Civil War ended. It has been amended several times since, most recently in 1996.
Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, said Kansas has traditionally relied on parents to know what's best for their kids.
"But now, with the way things are, we might have to take a look at that and see if we don't need a mandatory minimum," Ward said. "I don't think that we trust parents less now. There are so many things going on that any tools that we can have to help parents, we want to make sure that we do.
"As times change, as stresses on families change... then the law changes, too."
Protection of minors
Nebraska prohibits anyone under 17 from marrying. Koso was ordered by a judge last year to stay away from the girl. He was a friend of her half-brother, and they began a relationship when she was 12.
Richardson County Judge Curtis Maschman issued the protection order Sept. 29 against Koso at the request of the girl's mother. But after the girl became pregnant, her mother gave permission for Koso to take her to Kansas to marry her in May.
The girl is now 14 and is expected to begin high school following the anticipated birth of the baby in August, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Bruning charged Koso on Monday with first-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He was released on bail pending an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing in Richardson County Court.
"He should have been charged," said Walter Thiessen, executive director at the Wichita Child Guidance Center. "It's statutory rape whether he gets married or not."
Under Kansas law, a girl under the age of 16 cannot consent to having sex -- unless she is married. That has prompted some troubling conversations at the guidance center with girls who are involved with adults, Thiessen said.
"We've heard that before... 'Can we get around it by just getting married?' " he said.
The answer is "no."
"We tell them, 'You weren't married when you had the sex. The older person still broke the law,' " Thiessen said.
He has many questions as he reflects on the issue of minors getting married, Thiessen said, but few answers.
"How do we protect our young people?" he asked. "What do we do not to encourage this kind of behavior?"
Parental responsibility
McArthur, of the Kansas Children's Service League, said the real question is, "is it the law that needs to dictate this or is it the culture and parental responsibility?
"I'm not sure that it's the law that's going to prevent this from happening."
When she learned of the Nebraska couple, she said, she asked herself, "How did the child get to the point that it was OK to be dating this 22-year-old, and once she got pregnant, that the parents saw this as the solution?"
Some constituents may not like the Legislature messing with the marriage bill as a matter of principle, Ward said, and he understands that.
"We don't want the state interfering with the parent-child relationship if we don't have to," he said.
Rep. Judith Loganbill, D-Wichita, said she expects any debate over the marriage law to languish on the back burner while the Legislature wrestles with the budget and school finance. But she still considers it worthwhile.
"It raises a whole lot of questions," she said.
But that's probably a good thing, she said.
"Maybe it's a can of worms that needed to be opened."
Contributing: Associated Press
Reach Stan Finger at 268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com (sfinger@wichitaeagle.com).
© 2005 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifPosted on Sun, Jul. 31, 2005http://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gifhttp://www.kansas.com/images/common/spacer.gif
State age to wed could change
Kansas, like many states, has set no minimum age for marriage. Some lawmakers want to change that.
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle
Local legislators say they want to revisit the state's marriage law after a 22-year-old Nebraska man brought his pregnant 13-year-old girlfriend to Kansas to marry her.
Matthew Koso of Falls City, Neb., has been charged with having sex with an underage girl. And Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning last week called the Kansas law permitting the marriage ridiculous.
Kansas Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, used the same word for the law. He said he did not realize it set no minimum age for marriage.
"I'll bet it's one of the first things we look at when we go back into session," Myers said. "I think we'll probably jump right on that one."
Rep. Jo Ann Pottorff, R-Wichita, said she was shocked to learn a 13-year-old girl could marry in Kansas.
"I'm sure we'll be looking at something next session," she said.
Kansas is among more than 40 states without a mandatory minimum age for marriage. But being part of a large crowd didn't make startled lawmakers any happier. Only about half a dozen states have set minimum ages for marriage.
Five girls under the age of 15 got married in Kansas in 2003, the most recent year for which data is available. Three were married in 2002, and six were married in 2001, according to statistics compiled by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Every state requires children under the age of 18 to obtain outside consent -- from parents, guardians or a court -- before they can marry.
Kansas requires the consent of at least one parent or guardian and a judge, or all living parents and guardians, for a marriage license to be granted to someone under 18.
But child services officials question whether current law goes far enough.
"How old are these laws?" asked Vickie McArthur, director of prevention and community services for the Kansas Children's Service League. "Historically, people married at a much younger age, before we really had an adolescence.
"When life expectancy was lower, you were thrown into a working life and married life much sooner.... That's not where we are today."
Kansas first passed a marriage law in 1867, six years after becoming a state and two years after the Civil War ended. It has been amended several times since, most recently in 1996.
Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, said Kansas has traditionally relied on parents to know what's best for their kids.
"But now, with the way things are, we might have to take a look at that and see if we don't need a mandatory minimum," Ward said. "I don't think that we trust parents less now. There are so many things going on that any tools that we can have to help parents, we want to make sure that we do.
"As times change, as stresses on families change... then the law changes, too."
Protection of minors
Nebraska prohibits anyone under 17 from marrying. Koso was ordered by a judge last year to stay away from the girl. He was a friend of her half-brother, and they began a relationship when she was 12.
Richardson County Judge Curtis Maschman issued the protection order Sept. 29 against Koso at the request of the girl's mother. But after the girl became pregnant, her mother gave permission for Koso to take her to Kansas to marry her in May.
The girl is now 14 and is expected to begin high school following the anticipated birth of the baby in August, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Bruning charged Koso on Monday with first-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He was released on bail pending an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing in Richardson County Court.
"He should have been charged," said Walter Thiessen, executive director at the Wichita Child Guidance Center. "It's statutory rape whether he gets married or not."
Under Kansas law, a girl under the age of 16 cannot consent to having sex -- unless she is married. That has prompted some troubling conversations at the guidance center with girls who are involved with adults, Thiessen said.
"We've heard that before... 'Can we get around it by just getting married?' " he said.
The answer is "no."
"We tell them, 'You weren't married when you had the sex. The older person still broke the law,' " Thiessen said.
He has many questions as he reflects on the issue of minors getting married, Thiessen said, but few answers.
"How do we protect our young people?" he asked. "What do we do not to encourage this kind of behavior?"
Parental responsibility
McArthur, of the Kansas Children's Service League, said the real question is, "is it the law that needs to dictate this or is it the culture and parental responsibility?
"I'm not sure that it's the law that's going to prevent this from happening."
When she learned of the Nebraska couple, she said, she asked herself, "How did the child get to the point that it was OK to be dating this 22-year-old, and once she got pregnant, that the parents saw this as the solution?"
Some constituents may not like the Legislature messing with the marriage bill as a matter of principle, Ward said, and he understands that.
"We don't want the state interfering with the parent-child relationship if we don't have to," he said.
Rep. Judith Loganbill, D-Wichita, said she expects any debate over the marriage law to languish on the back burner while the Legislature wrestles with the budget and school finance. But she still considers it worthwhile.
"It raises a whole lot of questions," she said.
But that's probably a good thing, she said.
"Maybe it's a can of worms that needed to be opened."
Contributing: Associated Press
Reach Stan Finger at 268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com (sfinger@wichitaeagle.com).
© 2005 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.kansas.com