Crawford nowtaking same-sexmarriage apps

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BUCYRUS – As of Monday, the Crawford County Probate Court was ready to take applications for same-sex marriages.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 5 to 4 to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states on Friday, local court officials were waiting on instruction from the Ohio Supreme Court before beginning to take applications from same-sex couples.

“On Friday, we received two pieces of documentation. First, we received a memorandum from the state’s Probate Judges Association but that is just an opinion by the group. We had to wait for the order to come from the Ohio Supreme Court and it finally came at 4:33 p.m. Friday, after we closed at 4:30 p.m.,” said Probate Court Administrator Rhonda Neal.

Neal said on Friday the court did not feel comfortable proceeding with the same-sex applications until instruction came from the Ohio Supreme Court.

Neal said the court has made temporary changes to the applications for marriage license that use Mr. and M for Misses or Ms. to reflect applicant number one and applicant number two until new applications arrive from the court’s vendor.

Neal said one man called on Monday to inquire if he and his partner could come to the courthouse to apply for a marriage license.

“We told him yes and he seemed very excited,” Neal said.

Neal was not sure if the man and his partner came to the courthouse on Monday.

Neal said the court had already been approving adoptions for same-sex couples for several years.

“Two partners do not have to be married to adopt,” Neal said.

The Probate Court is located in the first floor of the Crawford County Courthouse.

In Galion, Mayor Tom O’Leary, who performs civil mariage ceremonies, said he was open to performing same-sex unions as soon as it was cleared by the county.

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Galion Inquirer Editor Chris Pugh contributed to this story. You can connect with Gasuras on Twitter @kimberlygasuras.

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