Kentucky governor drops county clerk names from marriage licences

“The requirement that the county clerk’s name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor”, the statement says.

Davis herself has already removed her name from licenses – adding text which instead claim the licenses are “pursuant to federal court order”.

Exactly two weeks after taking office and two weeks before the General Assembly begins its budget session, Republican Governor Matt Bevin has wiped out two legacies of the Democrat he replaced, with the same strokes of a pen Steve Beshear used to enact them. Davis said she could not issue the licenses because they had her name on them.

Davis took steps to remove her name and office from the forms after she was released from jail, and a deputy clerk has issued licenses on her behalf.

Although ordered by the judge who released her not to interfere with the Kentucky licenses issued by other clerks, Davis altered the license forms, creating some contention over whether they were legal.

“As for the executive order on changing the form for marriage licenses, I was a very early proponent of doing something similar”.

Greg Stumbo, the Democratic speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, praised Bevin for “finding a way to balance the law and the concerns (of) county clerks”.

Bevin wrote that he issued his executive order “to ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored”.

The Governor, a strong supporter of Davis, previously said he would help her out by stripping the names of all clerks off of marriage licenses.

Bevin’s order doesn’t affect current employees who benefited from the raise, but according to the release, “relieves executive branch agencies and vendors of the obligation to comply with the higher minimum wage”. The Union – which represented couples whose licenses were initially denied – thinks this decision will only make things more confusing. Next month, the Kentucky legislature is expected to update the state’s marriage laws and will consider a provision exempting county clerks from having to issue them.

Bevin’s final Order Tuesday abolishes Beshear’s Employee Advisory Council that reviewed wages, hours and terms of employment for merit employees.

Davis also briefly met Pope Francis in September in Washington during his visit to the United States. Beshear’s executive order restored voting rights to non-violent felons who had completed their sentence.