DuPage County residents seeking a same-sex marriage license will have to go elsewhere in the state if they want a spring wedding, according to the DuPage County Clerk.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan wrote a letter to the Macon County Clerk's Office on Tuesday after the clerk asked for legal guidance on the matter of same-sex marriage in the state.

On Feb. 21, a U.S. District Court judge ruled Cook County must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples before the June 1 effective date of the state law legalizing the practice.

In the letter, Madigan said the decision to issue the licenses early was ultimately up to each county, but that "the protections guaranteed by the Constitution must exist without regard to county lines."

She encouraged clerks to find the court decision "persuasive" and said her office would likely support any suit against a county that denied a same-sex license.

Governor Pat Quinn said in a news release that the Illinois Department of Public Health would accept all marriage licenses issued by any county clerk in Illinois.

"Nobody should have to wait for equal rights when it comes to love," he said in the release. "I encourage every county clerk in Illinois to quickly follow the Attorney General's guidance."

DuPage County Clerk Gary King said the announcement was unlikely to affect marriage license issuance in the county before June 1.

"Every law that is passed in Illinois has an effective date of law," he said. "Our State's Attorney (Robert Berlin) told me, and I agree with him, that we cannot supercede the law."

King said the announcement has no legal implications, that it could cause trouble if the law is changed before June and that remaining logistical details need to be addressed.

State's Attorney's Office spokesman Paul Darrah said the office's role in defending the county in a lawsuit would be unchanged by the Attorney General's support of early issuances.

"We don't make the laws, we enforce the laws," he said. "And that's the law that's on the books right now. If the law changed, we would enforce that."

King said the best way to change the issuance date was to amend the law.

"We deal with new laws and new legislation every year by the hundreds and we always follow the law by the date, and all of a sudden, this one thing is different," he said. "Going around the law is just something I didn't take an oath for."

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's office said they had not heard of other counties that will begin issuing licenses early in light of the announcement.

Same-sex couples living outside Cook County can apply for a marriage license there, but must be married inside county lines, Madigan's letter said.