Oneida County Clerk will begin taking same sex marriage license applications
Update: As of 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, the Oneida County Clerk has issued one same sex marriage license.
The Oneida County Clerks office will begin accepting same sex marriage license applications following a ruling in court today.
“We will begin issuing license right away,” Oneida County Clerk Mary Bartelt said.
Late last week, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb struck down Wisconsin’s ban on same sex marriages as unconstitutional. Today, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to issue a stay on the ruling, seeking to prevent counties from issuing the licenses.
After a 1 p.m. conference, no stay was granted and clerks could begin issuing the licenses, according to media reports and the clerk’s office.
That does not mean same sex couples will be able to get married right away in Oneida County due to a six-day waiting period required of all couples seeking to get married in the county. The only exceptions to that rule are if one of the petitioners has a fatal diseases, is in the military and is about to be called to service, needs to leave to attend school a great distance from Oneida County or for those looking for a license from out of state.
While the clerk was not issuing marriage license applications earlier in the day to see what the hearing would bring, Bartelt said she did receive interest from same sex couples looking for applications.
“We had one couple come in and ask for an application,” she said. “We also had two people call on the phone asking if we were issuing licenses.”
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