In a last-minute pleading late Wednesday, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis asked a federal judge to not hold her in contempt of court Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses. 
 
 Davis told U.S. District Judge David Bunning it's unfair to punish her for violating his Aug. 12 order requiring her to resume issuing marriage licenses because she "is presently unable to comply." Davis said the order "irreparably and irreversibly violates her conscience by directing her to authorize and issue same-sex marriage licenses bearing her name and approval." 
 
 Davis has refused to give anyone a marriage license since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage June 26, citing her religious objections. A half-dozen local couples are suing her. 
 
 In her pleading, Davis also noted she has broad political support in Kentucky. 
 
 "Leading Kentucky legislators from both parties in both houses uniformly agree that the legislature needs to address the entire marriage scheme in light of (the Supreme Court decision), but also agree that Davis' religious beliefs should be, and can be, accommodated. Both gubernatorial candidates in Kentucky have indicated an intent to support county clerks' individual rights," wrote Jonathan Christman, one of Davis' attorneys. 
 
 The contempt hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the U.S. District Courthouse in Ashland. 
 
 [Q&A;: What can federal judge do to make Rowan clerk obey his order to issue marriage licenses?] 
 
 [Defiant Christian public officials turn to a longtime foe of same-sex marriage for legal representation] 
 
 Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, filed a brief in the case late Wednesday asking Bunning to "delay, withhold or temper his ruling in this case until the General Assembly has an opportunity to establish new frameworks under Kentucky law." 
 
 He said the Supreme Court "completely obliterated" Kentucky's system of obtaining a marriage license. 
 
 "The General Assembly will be compelled to amend many sections of Kentucky law, not just for the issuance of marriage licenses, to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision," Stivers said in a statement. 
 
 Possible legislative responses to the clerks' protest have been discussed, including removing clerks' names from marriage license paperwork to make them feel less personally involved, or transferring the authority to issue marriage licenses to a state agency. However, lawmakers are not scheduled to convene until January. 
 
 Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo both said Wednesday that they favored a special legislative session to update the state's laws on marriage. However, the lawmakers said they doubted there would be a special session because Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has expressed no desire to call one before he leaves office in December. Only the governor may call a special session and set its agenda. 
 
 Apart from Davis, clerks in Casey and Whitley counties have refused to comply with the Supreme Court decision. 
 
 Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey issued a statement late Wednesday saying his office had "grave concerns" about Davis' refusal to comply with the court's order. 
 
 "It is time for the clerk and the county to follow the law," said Harvey, whose office has not been involved in the ongoing civil lawsuits. 
 
 Reporter Jack Brammer contributed to this report.John Cheves: (859) 231-3266. Twitter: @BGPolitics. Blog: Bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com. ||||| FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Republican president of the Kentucky state Senate has asked a federal judge to withhold his ruling ordering a county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. 
 
 Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, right, talks with David Moore following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Ky., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. Although... (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican Senate President Robert Stivers says U.S. District Judge David Bunning needs to give the state legislature time to pass a law that would exempt Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis from having to issue marriage licenses. The state legislature is not in session and won't be until January. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has refused to call for a special session, arguing it would waste taxpayer money for an issue that only affects one clerk. 
 
 "The Supreme Court ruling has completely obliterated the definition of marriage and the process for obtaining a marriage license in Kentucky," Stivers said in a news release. "The General Assembly will be compelled to amend many sections of Kentucky law, not just for the issuance of marriage licenses, to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision." 
 
 Stivers says nearly all of Kentucky's laws governing marriage are invalid following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. For example, Kentucky's state law requires a couple seeking a marriage license to apply for one in the county "in which the female resides" or at another county so long as the woman applies for it. 
 
 "(The Supreme Court decision) clearly contemplates marriages that do not involve a female, as well as marriages that involve two females," Stivers' attorney wrote to the court. "It is unclear at this juncture what the proper venue for the issuance of a license for same sex marriages is after (the Supreme Court's decision.) 
 
 Davis objects to same-sex marriage for religious reasons. She stopped issuing marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her, and Bunning ordered her to issue the licenses. 
 
 But Davis has refused to obey that order even though it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The four couples named in the lawsuit have asked Bunning to punish Davis by imposing fines against her. Bunning said he will decide after a court hearing, scheduled for Thursday. Davis will likely testify. 
 
 Wednesday, an attorney for Davis argued Bunning should not punish her for disobeying his order because she is unable to follow it. Jonathan Christman wrote that if Davis were to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple it would "irreparably and irreversibly violate her conscience." Christman said Davis cannot separate herself from her religious beliefs even while she is an elected official. 
 
 "It is not as if Kim Davis the individual stops existing while Kim Davis is performing her duties as Rowan County clerk," Christman wrote. 
 
 Christman argued Davis should not be punished yet because she still has an appeal pending before a higher court on a related issue. And he said that if Bunning were to fine Davis for not obeying his order it would amount to criminal penalties that would be illegal because Davis has not exercised all of her rights, including the right to a trial by a jury. 
 
 Attorneys for the couples suing Davis have said she should be fined because she continues to earn a taxpayer-funded salary "for duties she fails to perform."
– Can county clerk Kim Davis refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses, keep her job, and avoid a contempt of court charge? She seems to think so, and the president of Kentucky's senate is on her side. Davis is due before a federal judge at 11am, and in a last-minute legal filing, she argues that it would be unfair to punish her for disobeying an order that she is "presently unable" to comply with because it "irreparably and irreversibly violates her conscience," the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Republican Senate President Robert Stivers filed a brief asking the judge to delay his ruling until the state has had a chance to change its marriage laws to accommodate Davis. "The Supreme Court ruling has completely obliterated the definition of marriage and the process for obtaining a marriage license in Kentucky," Stivers said in a statement. He wants to pass a law exempting Davis from issuing licenses, but the state legislature isn't due in session until January and Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear doesn't want to call a special session, the AP reports. Davis, whose case has already been rejected by the Supreme Court, says it would violate her conscience to "issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate," and one of her lawyers tells NBC she is looking at options including issuing licenses that don't have her name on them. (Davis' own marital history is pretty tangled.)