Lawyers representing Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, said a former county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples once they were legally allowed to marry should be responsible for hefty legal bills incurred by the people who sued the county.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Bevin's attorneys argued that former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is responsible for almost $225,000 in legal bills, not the state.
"Davis had an independent and sworn duty to uphold the law as an elected county officer," Palmer G. Vance II wrote in a court document. "If fees are awarded, they must be the responsibility of the Rowan County clerk's office, which should be deterred from engaging in conduct that violates civil rights — and leads to costly litigation."
Bevin's general counsel Steve Pitt argued that state taxpayers should not be responsible for paying legal fees in a case that started over Davis' refusal to follow the law.
"Our outside counsel have only argued, given the court's ruling, that if constitutional rights were violated, the taxpayers of Kentucky are not responsible to pay the ACLU's attorney fees," Pitt said.
Four same-sex couples sued Rowan County after Davis cited her religious beliefs in not issuing marriage licenses to them in 2015. The plaintiffs won their cases, and in 2017 the state was ordered to pay their legal fees.
A panel of three judges at the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will hear the case on Thursday and will ultimately rule on who should pay the bills.
Davis lost her bid for reelection in November.
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