The Kentucky County Clerks Association has proposed amending Kentucky law so that county clerks don’t have to sign marriage licenses.
The legislation is being crafted so that county clerks who oppose same-sex marriages would be exempted from signing off on them.
James Lewis is the Leslie County Clerk and chair of the association’s elections committee, he says his organization is confident that the bill would be a solution for clerks who have religious objections to same-sex marriage.
“We would just like to if there are misgivings it does create a difficult choice for them sometimes, then this change would eliminate the need for that choice,” Lewis said.
Gov. Steve Beshear says he has seen no agreement on any approach to the issue.
“Obviously in January when the legislature comes in, they can come up with another scheme for issuing marriage licenses as long as it’s constitutional.”
At least two pieces of legislation have been proposed this summer that would protect clerks from liability for not issuing marriage licenses. Other unofficial proposals have included switching the state’s marriage license system to a statewide, online network so that clerks don’t have to sign them anymore.
Leaders of both chambers of the state legislature say they’re in favor of revising the state’s marriage laws so that clerks don’t have to sign off on marriage licenses.
