Ky. Clerk Files Court Order Arguing Gov. Beshear 'Usurped Control of State Marriage Law'

The Kentucky clerk who has sought to be exempt from issuing gay marriage licenses based on her religious beliefs said in legal documents this week that the state's governor has "usurped control of Kentucky marriage law."

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis argued in a 40-page court order submitted this week that Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear "commandeered" the state's law on marriage when he sent out a letter earlier this year ordering all state clerks to compy with the June Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage a constitutional right.

Davis argues in the court documents that Beshear's actions overstepped his political power and unlawfully took control of marriage licenses away from the state's county clerks. The court papers also argue that Beshear made no exemptions for the religious liberty of county clerks. 

The Rowan County clerk, an Apostolic Christian, was jailed earlier this month for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses based on her religious beliefs.

She was subsequently released from jail and told not to stand in the way of her deputies issuing marriage licenses.

Two same-sex couples and two straight couples then brought a lawsuit against Davis, arguing that because she continued to refuse to sign the marriage licenses being issued, the licenses' validity may have been compromised.

Gov. Beshear issued a statement arguing that he is certain the licenses will be recognized by the state with or without Davis' signature.

"I'm [...] confident and satisfied that the licenses that were issued last week (and) this morning substantially comply with the law in Kentucky," Gov. Beshear said earlier this month. "And they're going to be recognized as valid in the Commonwealth."