Couples who sued Davis want her to pay legal fees

The same-sex couples who filed lawsuits against Rowan County clerk Kim Davis for refusing to issue marriage licenses are now asking her to pay for their legal fees and costs amounting to $233,058.

The cases against Davis were filed in 2015 when she refused to issue the licenses on religious grounds despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples have the right to get married under the U.S. Constitution.

Davis, who was briefly detained for contempt of court, did not want her name to be on the marriage licenses of same-sex couples. 

In August, U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning dismissed the three lawsuits against Davis noting that Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin had issued an order to remove the names of county clerks from the licenses.

The lawyers for the couples are now asking Davis to foot the legal fees arguing that she did not perform her duty which forced the couples to sue in order to get their marriage licenses, Lexington Herald Leader reported.

"Courts recognize that when successful civil rights plaintiffs obtain a direct benefit from a court-ordered victory, such as in this case, they can be entitled to their legal expenses to deter future civil rights violations by government officials," a statement said by William Sharp, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Kentucky, and one of the lawyers for the couples.

Liberty Counsel, the organization that represented Davis, filed a response urging Bunning to deny the request for legal fees. The organization argued that the couples cannot hand over the bill to the clerk because they did not prevail in the case.

Rowan County has filed a separate response to the request, stating that the county government should not be forced to pay the fees because Davis did not act on behalf of the county when she refused to issue the licenses.

"County clerks are not employees of the county, but instead are the holders of elective office pursuant to the Kentucky Constitution," wrote Jeffrey C. Mando, a lawyer for Rowan County.