Los Alamos County clerk Sharon Stover has decided to challenge a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Stover’s decision on Tuesday means she will have to appear in court to argue why she should not have to offer the marriage licenses. A court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Stover had previously said she would decide on Tuesday afternoon whether to issue the licenses or challenge the matter in court.
Stover’s decision makes her county the first one to be challenge the series of state court orders to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Six other counties have begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in recent weeks. Some of those counties only began offering licenses after clerks were ordered to do so by state courts.
Correction: This post originally described Stover as having disobeyed the court order. In fact, the judge had directed the clerk to either issue licenses or appear at a court hearing to make the legal arguments for why licenses should not be issued. Stover decided to argue the case in court.
