EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Three south-central Kansas counties are denying applications for marriage licenses from same-sex couples.

Chief District Court Judge David Ricke said in a statement Monday that Butler, Elk and Greenwood counties will keep complying with a ban on gay marriage in Kansas law and the state constitution.

The counties make up the 13th Judicial District. Ricke says the district will continue to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples until he is convinced it falls under a binding court order that “clearly and unequivocally” requires its district court clerks to issue them.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused last week to allow the state to keep enforcing its ban while a federal lawsuit proceeds. The lawsuit was filed over the refusal of Douglas and Sedgwick counties to issue same-sex marriage licenses.