TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Supreme Court has blocked the state’s most populous county from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, hours after the first one was issued under an order from a lower-court judge.
The Supreme Court issued a three-page order in response to a petition filed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. The high court said it acted for “statewide consistency.”
The Supreme Court set a hearing for Nov. 6.
Schmidt argued that the chief district court judge in Johnson County exceeded his authority in ordering clerks and other judges to approve marriage applications from gay couples, despite a ban on gay marriage in the state constitution.
Judge Kevin Moriarty issued his order after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve their bans.
