LuAnn Lewis, right, and Nancy Escalante, the supervisor of the marriage license department, share a laugh after Lewis finished submitting her application for a marriage license on Thursday Nov. 13, 2014, at the Shawnee County Courthouse in Topeka, Kan.TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas Supreme Court has cleared the way for additional gay marriages in the state.
The court on Tuesday evening lifted its hold on marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Johnson County. The justices last month blocked such licenses while reviewing a petition from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
But the Kansas court did not address whether the state's ban on gay marriage is constitutional and said it wouldn't consider the issue until the federal courts resolve a lawsuit filed month on behalf of two lesbian couples.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week told the state it couldn't continue enforcing its gay-marriage ban while the ACLU's lawsuit makes its way through the federal courts.
Since then, local officials have had different policies on marriage licenses to gay couples.