Payment of $260,000 sought from former KY official who denied same-sex marriage licenses

A former Kentucky official facing a $100,000 judgment for refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple could have to pay an additional $260,000 to attorneys who represented the men.

Attorneys who represented a couple in successfully suing Davis for damages have requested a total of $260,084 to cover their fees and expenses.

If a judge approves the request, Davis would owe more than $360,000 as a result of the court case.

Attorneys for Davis will contest the fee request and also plan to appeal the judgment against her, said Mathew D. Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, which represents her.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2015 that same-sex couples had the same right to marry as heterosexual couples, Davis, who was then county clerk in Rowan County, would not issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Davis said she is an evangelical Christian and believes marriage is only proper between a man and a woman. She argued that having to issue a license to a gay couple with her name on it would violate her beliefs and rights.

U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning jailed Davis for several days for refusing to follow the law.

A clerk in her office issued licenses to gay couples, and the state legislature ultimately changed the license form so that it does not include the clerk’s name. Davis lost re-election in 2018.

In cases involving two couples who sued Davis, Bunning ruled Davis violated their rights, saying she couldn’t “use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official.”

Because of multiple appeals, however, it took eight years for a decision on whether Davis would have to pay the couples.

In September, separate jury panels heard testimony from the couples, David Ermold and David Moore, and James Yates and Will Smith.

They said Davis’ refusal to issue them marriage licenses caused them mental and emotional distress, among other problems, and fed bias against gay people.

“I have a lot of stress and anxiety because of what happened,” Ermold, who has taught at the University of Pikeville and Morehead State University, told jurors. “Ms. Davis is responsible for humiliating us in public.”

One jury panel awarded Ermold and Moore $50,000 each. The other panel decided against any damages for Yates and Smith.

Under federal law, attorneys for Moore and Ermold can request that Davis pay their fees because they won the judgment.

Attorneys collectively put in hundreds of hours over several years in representing the men, according to the fee request.

The request seeks $164,910 for the DelCotto Law Group PLLC in Lexington, led by attorney Michael J. Gartland, for more than 550 hours of work; $47,670 for the Buckles Law Office, PLLC, another Lexington firm, led by Joseph D. Buckles; and $33,446 for the Public Citizen Litigation Group in Washington, D.C., which helped with one issue.

The request includes reimbursement of expenses totaling $14,058.

The hourly rates covered in the request are reasonable, and the overall request is as well, the prevailing attorneys argue.

“Given the nature of this case and its very long procedural history, including multiple appeals, the hours expended are reasonable,” the motion contends.

The group representing Davis, Liberty Counsel, hopes to ultimately get the case back before the U.S. Supreme Court and argue to overturn the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage.