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Same-Sex Marriage License Issued in Brown Co

By Greg Bebermeyer

11/19/2014

(KNZA)--A same-sex couple in Brown County is the first to be issued a marriage license locally, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week allowing gay marriage in Kansas.

Brown County District Court Clerk Joy Moore says that a license was issued Monday for Hiawatha residents Charles Brunner and Michael Huerter. The license was signed by 22nd Judicial District Chief Judge Jim Patton, following a three-day waiting period.

The couple is the first to receive a license in the 22nd Judicial District, which includes Brown, Doniphan, Nemaha and Marshall Counties.

Moore said the couple applied for the license last Thursday, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the state’s request to prevent gay and lesbian couples from marrying while Kansas fights the issue in court.

Since then, gay couples have been getting married in some, but not all Kansas counties.

Meanwhile, the Kansas Supreme Court has cleared the way for additional gay marriages in the state.

The court on Tuesday evening lifted its hold on marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Johnson County. The justices last month blocked such licenses while reviewing a petition from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

But the Kansas court didn’t address whether the state’s ban on gay marriage is constitutional. It said it wouldn’t consider the issue until the federal courts resolve a lawsuit filed this month on behalf of two lesbian couples.

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