This line of argument may be running out of steam, as according to KY 61.035;
“Any duty enjoined by law or by the Rules of Civil Procedure upon a ministerial officer, and any act permitted to be done by him, may be performed by his lawful deputy”
The deputies are empowered to carry out the functions of the office if the head is not present.
That makes it more interesting that the licenses are being issued wit no signatures - the deputies are authorized to sign, but not doing so.
And now with the Clerk back in the office, what? Does the order not to interfere mean that for the purposes of issuing licenses she’s technically ‘not present’?
To reiterate what I said earlier, I think Bunning is stumbling around blindly here. He’s in a hole, doesn’t know which way to dig to get out of it.