A federal judge has ruled that Kim Davis, the former county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, must pay $260,000 in fees and expenses to the attorneys of the same-sex couple she denied a marriage license to in 2015. This is in addition to the $100,000 in damages awarded to the couple by a jury last year. Davis gained national attention when she defied the US Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, citing her religious beliefs.

David Ermold and David Moore, the couple who sued Davis after being denied marriage licenses multiple times, were found to have had their constitutional rights violated by Davis in a ruling by US District Judge David Bunning in 2022. The jury awarded them $100,000 in damages in September 2023. Last week, Bunning ruled that Davis should also be responsible for the couple's attorneys' fees, stating that they are the "prevailing party" in the case.

Attorneys for Davis argued that the plaintiffs' attorneys had billed excessive hours, but Bunning deemed the hours and rates charged to be reasonable. Davis was represented by lawyers from Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit organization that advocates for religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the family through litigation. Liberty Counsel plans to ask the court to reverse the jury's verdict against Davis due to insufficient evidence for monetary damages. If the motion is denied, they will appeal the case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Davis, a Republican, lost her bid for reelection as county clerk in 2018. She spent five days in jail in 2015 after being found in contempt of court for refusing to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples. Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, Davis continued to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on her religious beliefs. The case received significant media attention and was even parodied on an episode of "Saturday Night Live.".