Is Kim Davis married? All we know about the Kentucky clerk asking to overturn same-sex marriage

Kim Davis, a former clerk for Kentucky’s Rowan County, recently filed a writ of certiorari asking the US Supreme Court to revisit its landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. 

The SCOTUS’ June 2015 decision led to the legalization of same-sex marriage across the country. Kim Davis, who aligned with the Democratic Party at the time, denied granting same-gender couples marriage licenses on religious grounds, due to her Christian beliefs. However, Davis herself had a tumultuous marriage history. 

The ex-Kentucky clerk has been married four times to three spouses, according to court records obtained by CBS News in 2015. Born in September 1965, Kim was 18 at the time of her first wedding to Dwain Wallace and parted ways with him in 1994. At the time, she also had two children, per CBS News. 

Kim married her second husband, Joe Davis, in 1996, and they remained together for a decade before their divorce. The future Rowan County clerk tied the knot with her third husband, Thomas McIntryre, in 2007 but split within a year. Joe and Kim remarried in 2009 and have been together ever since. 

Kim Davis has been married four times to three husbands. Davis has two daughters from her first marriage and twins, a son and another daughter. Her third husband is the biological father of the twins, the children being conceived while Davis was still married to her first… pic.twitter.com/SW5IYMt7bH

— Jamie Bonkiewicz (@JamieBonkiewicz) August 11, 2025

When the controversy happened in 2015, Joe Davis told CBS News that he and his wife had been together for 19 years. He described himself as “an old redneck hillbilly” and remarked on the then-ongoing situation:

“They want us to accept their beliefs and their ways. But they won't accept our beliefs and our ways.” 

Kim Davis faced jail time for contempt of court after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples

The SCOTUS ruled out the nationwide recognition of the right of same-gender couples to wed, protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. 

Due to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Davis spent days in jail for defying the court after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After she was locked up, Joe spoke with the press, claiming his wife would not resign and would continue to stay in jail. In Kim’s absence, her deputy clerks started issuing licenses. 

When Davis was jailed, the court provided her with an alternative. During the proceedings, the court suggested the clerk did not have to issue the licenses herself, as her five deputies agreed. However, Kim Davis’ lawyer told District Judge David Bunning: 

“We cannot represent to the court that she would allow licenses to be issued.” 

Ultimately, District Judge Bunning directed Davis not to interfere with five of her deputies, who agreed to grant marriage licenses. After five days, she was released from prison and remained Rowan County clerk until her ouster in 2019. Davis had won the election in 2015 as a democratic candidate, but switched to the Republican Party after her controversy. 

A Kentucky court ruled in favor of David Ermold and David Moore in their lawsuit against Kim Davis 

The former Rowan County clerk faced multiple suits when she refused to issue marriage licenses in 2015. A same-sex couple - David Ermold and David Moore - had shot a video of Davis and sued her in July. The case was reopened in May 2017 and was ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in March 2022. 

Kim Davis’ side had reportedly argued that she was using her First Amendment rights to refuse granting marriage licenses, but Judge Bunning asserted (via the Associated Press): 

“[Davis] cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official.”

The ruling from the Kentucky judge read: 

“It is readily apparent that Obergefell recognizes Plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment right to marry. It is also readily apparent that Davis made a conscious decision to violate Plaintiffs’ right.” 

The Supreme Court has been formally asked to overturn its landmark same-sex marriage ruling.

Kim Davis, who was jailed for six days for refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple, has filed an appeal in her case. pic.twitter.com/C73TER3CG0

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 11, 2025

Ermold and Moore were awarded $100,000 in damages in 2023, while Davis owed an additional $260,000 in legal expenses to the plaintiffs, according to WKYT. The defendant appealed her case at the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, but the original ruling prevailed. 

Kim Davis has filed a writ to overturn the decision against her and revisit the 2015 decision on same-sex marriage. ABC News reported that the SCOTUS judges will formally consider the case this fall.