Loving County in West Texas, the least populous county in the U.S. with 82 residents as of the 2010 census, will issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, according to former state Rep. Glen Maxey, who has been monitoring county clerks in all 254 Texas counties.
Located on the New Mexico border, 230 miles east of El Paso and 75 miles west of Odessa, Loving County has one unincorporated town. The county is 677 about sq. miles, about 3/4 the size of Dallas, Tarrant, Collin or Denton counties, which are each about 900 square miles. Loving shares an ISD with Winkler County to its east. Winkler has two towns and 7,300 people.
Loving had been on the list of counties whose county clerks didn’t respond to the question of whether or not they would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. With such a sparse population, the county officials (according to its website, there are 12) only work part-time.
According to Maxey, the County Clerk Beverly Hanson has now responded, and said she would issue a license to a same-sex couple. None of the county’s residents or visitors have applied for one, however.
Least populous county in the U.S. will issue licenses
