October 9, 2014
By Andrew Kinney
By Andrew Kinney
RALEIGH — Chad Biggs, (click here) a Wake County sheriff’s deputy, and his partner, Chris Creech, also a sheriff’s office employee, are set to receive Wake County’s first same-sex marriage license, according to Laura Riddick, register of deeds for the county.
That marriage must wait for the legal maneuvering to settle, but experts say federal court decisions have set North Carolina on a path to legal gay marriage soon.
On Thursday morning, preparations were underway at the Wake County Justice Center. Riddick’s office was working with software vendors to prepare the county’s databases for changes to the marriage application.
There were no lines of couples in the morning, but court employees were casing the lobby, planning for potentially large crowds and trying to keep TV camera crews out of the way.
Biggs, who has been engaged for more than two years, was on duty at the courthouse in full uniform on Thursday morning. Riddick, the register of deeds, had his number on a sticky note attached to her identification badge, ready to call him as soon as word of a decision in the continuing court matters arrived. She had been brushing up on her clerical skills so she could issue the license herself, she said....
