Same Sex Marriage Licenses not being issued in Calhoun County

Judge Alice Martin

While several Alabama probate judges issued same sex marriage licenses Monday, Six Calhoun County couples tried to get marriage licenses Monday but no licenses were issued.

Probate Judge Alice Martin cited Sunday nights court order from Chief Justice Roy Moore  Judge Martin said she would follow the law and Moores court order was entered directing not to issue these license. 

One of the lesbian women said federal law outweighs any state official.  Martin said she knows not everyone agrees on the issue, but said she had to follow Moore's order.

Martin stated that she would follow court orders and she expects to hear from the federal court today.

Martin said that Until a court order gives her further direction, she is  allowing them to complete the application.  She said they will take the application and then wait on the next court order."

Several of the other couples who came to the Calhoun County office in Anniston received texts from friends who were getting licenses approved in other counties.  Some left to go to Etowah County or Jefferson County. 

The Etowah County Probate Office was busy issuing marriage licenses on the first day of issuing the documents to same-sex couples.

By late Monday afternoon, nine same-sex couples had obtained marriage licenses in Etowah County, along with four traditional couples.

Typically, the office might issue two or three marriage licenses on Mondays and on Fridays, with even fewer on other days of the week. 

Same Sex Divorce

While same-sex marriage license were being issued for the first time Monday,  in Madison County, a same-sex couple quietly filed a new petition for divorce.

The initial petition last March was rejected by a Madison County District Court which found that under Alabama's same-sex marriage ban there were no grounds to grant the couple's request. Alabama's same-sex marriage ban also says the state will not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

But the ban was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in Mobile last month and the state's efforts to get the ban reinstated pending future court rulings have been rebuffed.

That seems to open the door not just for same-sex marriage, but divorce as well.

The couple seeking the divorce, Michelle Richmond and Kirsten Allysse Richmond, married in Dubuque, Iowa in 2012. They are from Alabama and both still live here.

The uncontested divorce filing includes a division of property.