NATCHEZ — Even though the Supreme Court handed down an opinion legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 U.S. states, same sex couples in the Miss-Lou waiting to tie the knot are having to wait at least a few days more.

In Mississippi, Attorney General Jim Hood’s office put out a statement saying same-sex marriage would not be immediately effective in Mississippi until the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal lifted a stay on a federal ruling saying the state had to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately.

The stay had been placed by the appeals court while awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on similar cases.

Circuit Clerk Eddie Walker said based on that guidance he was waiting to give licenses to same-sex couples, but when the matter is clarified they will be issued.

“I had been expecting this ruling, and I am sworn to uphold the law, that is exactly what we will do,” Walker said.

The clerk’s office received several phone calls during the day about the matter, but no same-sex couples applied for a license in person Friday.

Hood released a statement later in the day saying his office “is certainly not standing in the way of the Supreme Court’s decision.”

“We simply want to inform our citizens of the procedure that takes effect after this ruling,” Hood said. “The Supreme Court decision is the law of the land and we do not dispute that. When the 5th Circuit lifts the stay of Judge Reeves’ order, it will become effective in Mississippi and circuit clerks will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses.”

Concordia Parish Clerk of Court Clyde Ray Webber said Friday morning he and several other clerks of court in the region had met this week to discuss the potential for the ruling, but was waiting for guidance from the state before proceeding.

“We discussed and said, “There is nothing we can do until we hear from the state and they tell us what to do,’” he said.

“We take an oath to follow the constitution of the United States and the constitution of this state, so if they are opposed to one another, they have to square that away because we don’t have the authority to do anything we want to do, we have to wait and see what they tell us to do. We expect (the state) to abide by the ruling – I don’t see anything else to do – so it is a matter of waiting to hear from them.”

Louisiana voters passed in 2014 a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Webber, who is a minister at Vidalia and Ferriday First Presbyterian churches, said he personally has some reservations about issuing same-sex marriage licenses but he and his clerks will do “whatever the state and federal law tells us to do.”

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals — which registers vital records such as births, deaths and marriages — released a statement Friday saying any implementation of changes would be delayed until a mandate comes down from the 6th District Court of Appeal, which was hearing a related case from Louisiana.

Matt Steffey, a professor of constitutional law at Mississippi College, said such guidance are “completely and entirely misguided.”

The stay placed on Mississippi licenses by the 5th Circuit Court didn’t say clerks couldn’t issue same-sex licenses, Steffey said, but instead put on temporary hold the ruling that said it must be done.

“The 5th Circuit stay has nothing to do anymore with the duty of clerks to issue licenses to same-sex couples,” he said.

“The 5th Circuit Court can’t and wouldn’t interfere with what the U.S. Supreme Court does.”

Even if the Mississippi ruling isn’t used, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling said every ban on same-sex marriage in the country is unconstitutional, Steffey said.

Those who are waiting are correct in one technical sense, he said, because the Supreme Court’s official mandate has not been sent to the lower courts.

“The mandate is paperwork,” he said. “That is when the decision technically becomes effective, but there is nothing wrong with starting now. This opinion is the first notice to anybody of the court’s decision.”

Steffey said clerks who keep with the guidance given Friday morning could be treading on dangerous legal ground.

“The clerks who mistakenly follow these instructions and refuse to issue a license are at risk for being personally liable for violating that couple’s civil rights,” he said.

Steffey said mandates usually follow within a day to two weeks following a ruling. He said he expects the mandate for this case to come next week.