The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that same-sex couples have the same right to marry under the Constitution as everyone else.

That ruling set off a firestorm of debate across the nation and in the state of Kentucky, a development surrounding Clinton County Clerk Shelia Booher put Clinton County in the middle of many statewide headlines.

During the last two weeks, since the Supreme Court decision, several county court clerks decided to suspend issuing marriage licenses at all … to anyone.

According to a statement by Clinton County Clerk Shelia Booher, she is one of those clerks and will not issue any marriage licenses.

“Until we determine legal rights and obligations, we are not going to be issuing any marriage licenses,” Booher said. “We are seeking legal council.”

Several have rethought their position and decided to issue those licenses.

Most of the clerks who initially refused to issue marriage licenses, cited conflicts with personal religious beliefs, although Booher has not stated officially her particular reason for refusing to carry out the duty of issuing marriage licenses.

Following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has told the state’s county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.

As of press time, most of the County Clerks in Kentucky who originally refused to issue marriage licenses from their respective offices, have done an about face and are now issuing marriage licenses to any couple applying, with the exception of two Clerks, Booher, and Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis.

Like Booher, Davis said her strong religious belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, is preventing her from agreeing to issue marriage licenses.

The county clerk from Rowan County has been sued by four couples, two same sex couples and two opposite sex couples, for not issuing licenses.

The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Ashland, Kentucky, requests an injunction ordering Rowan County Clerk to begin issuing licenses. It alleges that her policy is unconstitutional and asks for punitive damages for violating the four couples’ rights.

According to an article published in the Lexington Herald-Leader last week, officials have been warned that the defiant clerks could be risking criminal charges including official misconduct which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

Another area clerk who at first also refused to issues marriage license, Casey Davis of Casey County, this week is asking Gov. Beshear to call the Kentucky legislature into session to address the issue.

His suggestion is to allow couples to apply for marriage licenses online, much in the same manner that a Kentucky resident can obtain a hunting or fishing license.

Clinton County Judge/Executive Richard Armstrong has also stood firm on the issue saying he will not perform any marriages in the future.

“We’ve all been advised to not do any marriages,” Armstrong said. “I guess it will be a thing of the past for around here.”

Effective on June 29, 2015, Armstrong stopped performing marriages as part of his duties as county judge/executive.

“This is going to come down to what an individual thinks,” Armstrong said. “People are going to have an issue with this just because they can. There hasn’t been two women or two men come up here and ask me to marry them.”

Unlike the office duties of the county clerk, the county judge/executive can choose whether or not to perform marriages.

“I don’t have to if I don’t want to. Believe it or not, when I took this job, it was something I did not know I had to do. The previous judge said he performed a lot of weddings. I’ve done maybe two or three since I’ve been here, and I didn’t care for it then. It don’t seem right, and I’ve told the people I performed it for. I sat down with each couple and talked to them and told them I thought you should be married in a church by a preacher, and I still feel that way.”

Armstrong said he is glad he doesn’t have to perform marriages if he doesn’t want to, but he is sad for the clerks.

“Some of them are going to have to make a stand,” Armstrong said. “The lawyers at KACO said they will back us, but that doesn’t mean we will win. Nobody wants to go to court.”