Attorney General Greg Zoeller has given further direction to county clerks on the same-sex marriage licenses issued last week before a federal appeals court put the practice on hold.
The guidelines are meant to help clerks navigate what some say is confusion about the status of the licenses issued between a federal judge‘s ruling last Wednesday that the state could not bar same-sex couples from getting married and early Friday evening, when the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals delayed the rule pending Zoeller‘s appeal.
The attorney general suggests clerks not process final copies of same-sex marriage licenses that might be returned to their offices since the stay was issued, even if the licenses were given out during the legal period.
But Marion County Clerk‘s office spokeswoman Erin Kelley says her office will not follow that guidance.
"Our [county] attorneys have advised us that licenses issued during the window and that were executed – in terms of: there was a ceremony that took place -- we can accept those in to record," Kelley says.
Zoeller’s note says those who can perform marriage ceremonies should not do so for same-sex partners, even if the couple obtained a license while it was legal to do so. Kelley says her office will follow that directive.
