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Judge: Taxpayers Must Pay $225,000 Legal Bill In Kim Davis Case

"The buck stops there."

A federal judge has ordered Kentucky taxpayers to pay $222,695 in fees to cover legal services provided for those who sued Kim Davis, the infamous Rowan County Clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses after the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality, the New York Post reports.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning ruled Friday that the state must pay the outstanding legal fees to the attorneys of the same-sex couples who sued Davis for refusing to grant them marriage licenses in 2015. Bunning, who also awarded $2,008 in other costs, said that neither the county nor Davis herself were responsible for the fees.

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“Davis represented the Commonwealth of Kentucky when she refused to issue marriage licenses to legally eligible couples," Bunning wrote. "The buck stops there."

“It is unfortunate that Kentucky taxpayers will likely bear the financial burden of the unlawful actions and litigation strategies of an elected official," says ACLU of Kentucky legal director William Sharp, but he hopes the ruling reminds Kentucky officials that “willful violations of individuals’ civil liberties... will not only be challenged but will also prove costly.”

Davis' attorney, who claims that her case was ultimately dismissed as moot and not technically lost, says that they plans to appeal the ruling so that state taxpayers would not have to pay the fees; state officials, who are reviewing the court's decision, remain undecided.

It was Bunning who had Davis jailed for five days in September 2015 after she ignored a federal judge’s order to issue same-sex marriage licenses, saying she was acting “under God’s authority.” She was released once staff at her office began issuing the licenses, and Gov. Matt Bevin later signed a bill into law that removed the names of county clerks from marriage certificates.

Davis used the attention to become a poster girl for the right wing, meeting with Republican presidential candidates, reality TV stars, and even the Pope.

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