LEXINGTON, Ky. — The former Rowan County clerk who made national news when she refused to sign a marriage certificate for two men is in another round of court trouble — she could face sanctions and contempt of court after a judge found she withheld information about assets she owns.

In a Nov. 6 order, a federal judge found Kim Davis likely withheld information about inherited assets to try and avoid payment of a six-figure judgment. The six-figure judment is owed to the couple she refused to sign a marriage license for. They sued her for humiliation, mental anguish and emotional distress, and were awarded hundreds a total of $100,000 in damages $260,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Attorneys for the two Kentucky men whose case drew international attention after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 filed a lawsuit in Rowan Circuit Court, accusing Davis of hiding inherited properties. They want a judge to void the transfer of Davis’ half-interest in property she inherited from her mother last year and later gave to her husband, son, brother and sister-in-law.

In July, the two men filed an additional complaint that alleged Davis withheld information to avoid paying David Ermold and David Moore the $565,285.91 she was ordered by a federal jury to pay the couple in 2023.

In his Nov. 6 order, United States Magistrate Judge Edward Adkins found she did conceal assets, and ordered Davis must respond with complete responses about her assets no later than Nov. 16.

The men asked a judge to hold Davis in contempt of court, but he denied their request for now, allowing Davis more time to answer. He could still hold her in contempt if she does not demonstrate why she should not be sanctioned.

While courts ultimately found Davis personally liable for violating the couple’s constitutional rights, the July complaint focuses on her finances, alleging she deliberately transferred inherited assets to family members to shield them from collection as the plaintiffs seek to enforce the six-figure judgment.

Since a federal appeals court affirmed that judgment against Davis last year, the men haven’t received “a penny” of the damages, attorneys fees and other expenses they’re due. Instead, Davis has exercised legal avenues to attempt to avoid the payments. She submitted post-judgment written responses in December 2025 and January in which she claimed, under oath, that she doesn’t own or have any interest in property and that she is not the beneficiary of any trust, court records show.

But the attorneys found probate court and Rowan County land records revealing Davis inherited a half-share interest in her mother’s $735,230 estate in January 2025. She and her brother were appointed co-administrators of that estate a month later, and her brother executed an affidavit of descent that officially made them both 50% heirs on April 8 — exactly 33 days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s final liability and damages judgment against her.

On that same day, Kim Davis and her brother Darold Rayburn Bailey Jr. transferred a Morehead home in their mother’s estate to Bailey Jr., his wife, and Kim Davis’ husband Joe Davis, effectively writing her off of the deed, according to court records. Then, in May 2025, Kim Davis and her brother transferred a 50-acre farm parcel and a separate three-bedroom home to a trust for which her husband and son are beneficiaries.

Davis has until Nov. 16 to file additional responses regarding the judge’s findings.

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