A deputy in the Rowan County, Ky., clerk’s office says he will continue to issue marriage licenses, even if his embattled boss, Kim Davis, protests.
Deputy clerk Brian Mason told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he will continue to issue the licenses to same-sex couples in the northern Kentucky county — a process that Davis has been instructed not to disrupt under a new court order from U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning.
Davis did not report for work at the courthouse Wednesday morning, but does plan to go back on Monday, according to a statement from Liberty Counsel, which noted that she had been spending time with her family, as well as reading “boxes of letters” that she’d received from supporters.
“I haven’t even made a dent in the piles of letters,” Davis said in the statement. “I am overwhelmed that people took the time out of their busy lives to write and tell me that they are standing with me. Every letter has been kind and encouraging.”
Bunning ordered Davis freed from Carter County Detention Center on Tuesday, days after the federal judge held her in contempt of court. After her release, one of her attorneys, Mat Staver, said “Kim Davis cannot, will not violate her conscience.” Asked whether that meant she would refuse to issue licenses, Staver, founder of the conservative Liberty Counsel, promised that people would “find out in the near future.”
Mason was the deputy clerk charged with issuing licenses Friday, one day after Davis was sent to jail by Bunning. At the time, Bunning also ordered five of the six Rowan County deputy clerks to start issuing licenses.
According to the AP:
Mason said Wednesday that licenses would be granted to anyone seeking them. He told reporters that if Davis tells him to stop, he will tell her no. Mason says he would have to follow the judge’s order to issue licenses.
Davis — a 49-year-old Apostolic Christian — opposes same-sex marriage and has said that she is refusing to issue licenses “under God’s authority.” It’s unclear what will happen when she does return to work.
“I love God, love people, and love my work,” she said in Wednesday’s statement. “I hope we will continue to respect these values and that America remains a place where all three can live in harmony.”
The AP reported that a couple had asked Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins to look into whether Davis should be charged with official misconduct for her actions. Watkins then went to the state’s Office of the Attorney General, due to a conflict of interest.
Allison Martin, a spokeswoman for Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, said in an email to The Post that the office wouldn’t be appointing a special prosecutor to review the Davis case right now.
“At this time, our office is not appointing a special prosecutor because the matter is being handled by the federal court,” Martin wrote. “For now, we are holding the request in abeyance.”
This post has been updated.
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