Utah County To Issue Same-Sex Licenses After 3rd Stay Denial

Same-sex couples Natalie Dicou, left, and Nichole Christensen, middle left, and James Goodman, middle right, and Jeffrey Gomez, right, wait in line to get a marriage license at the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office in ... Same-sex couples Natalie Dicou, left, and Nichole Christensen, middle left, and James Goodman, middle right, and Jeffrey Gomez, right, wait in line to get a marriage license at the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. A federal judge ruled on Friday that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Kim Raff) MORE LESS
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This post has been updated.

Utah County, which held off issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at the beginning of the week, will now grant them to all couples, Utah County Clerk Bryan Thompson said in a statement Thursday.

“On Tuesday afternoon, December 24th, the 10th Circuit of Appeals denied the motion to stay the ruling by Judge Robert Shelby that Utah’s same sex marriage ban is unconstitutional,” Thompson said. “Based upon that motion and upon receipt of the further clarifications I was seeking; the Utah County Clerk’s Office will issue marriage licenses to all eligible applicants.”

Thompson on Monday refused to issue licenses to same-sex couples before receiving legal clarification from the county attorney, even after a federal judge denied Utah’s request to hold of on issuing same-sex marriage licenses while the state appeals the court’s ruling.

On Tuesday, the Utah attorney general’s office ordered counties that resisted issuing licenses to same-sex couples to do so, and he expected all counties to be granting licenses to all couples by Thursday.

Box Elder and San Juan counties will reportedly begin to issue licenses to gay couples Thursday.

According to Fox 13 News’ Ben Winslow, Piute County is the only current holdout because the clerk is on vacation.

Correction: This post originally stated that Sean Reyes is currently the attorney general. He has been named to the post, but has not taken office yet.

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