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Eye On Boise

Latah County issues marriage license to same-sex couple, on advice of county attorney

Katherine Sprague, center, and Tabitha Simmons, right, take an oath under the direction of Deputy Recorder Stacey Chapman while applying for their marriage license at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014. Sprague and Simmons were the first couple to be issued a same-sex marriage license in Latah County. (AP/Moscow-Pullman Daily News / Geoff Crimmins)
Katherine Sprague, center, and Tabitha Simmons, right, take an oath under the direction of Deputy Recorder Stacey Chapman while applying for their marriage license at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014. Sprague and Simmons were the first couple to be issued a same-sex marriage license in Latah County. (AP/Moscow-Pullman Daily News / Geoff Crimmins)

The Latah County Clerk has issued a marriage license to two females, signaling the start of same-sex marriage in Idaho – even before a final, formalizing order from the 9th Circuit. Latah County Clerk Susan Petersen said on the advice of the Latah County prosecutor she issued the license about 3:45 p.m. The two women came to her office in Moscow about 2:30 p.m. to get a license and had to wait while officials determined if they were allowed to start issuing licenses to same-sex couples, said Petersen, a Republican.

“We’re just trying to follow the law,” Petersen told Spokesman-Review reporter Jonathan Brunt.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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