Judge puts expiration date on delay in issuing Rowan County marriage licenses: Aug. 31

A federal judge on Wednesday set an Aug. 31 deadline for his delay in ordering Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to resume issuing marriage licenses.

Unless the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals acts on Davis' appeal by then, his temporary stay will expire and a preliminary junction he issued earlier, ordering Davis to issue marriage licenses, will take effect, U.S. District Judge David Bunning wrote.

Davis has refused to issue marriage licenses in her county since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages June 26. Davis, an Apostolic Christian, says she has religious objections to authorizing gay marriages. A half-dozen same-sex and opposite-sex couples from Rowan County have sued her in federal court, arguing that her private beliefs should not interfere with her public duties.

Bunning issued a preliminary injunction last week siding with the couples, but on Monday he agreed to put that order on hold at Davis' request while she appealed to the 6th Circuit.

This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Judge puts expiration date on delay in issuing Rowan County marriage licenses: Aug. 31."