Lawrence should feel free to enact a proposed domestic partnership registry that would provide some legal recognition to gay couples, according to an attorney general’s opinion released today.

Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison said in the legal opinion that the proposed registry does not conflict with the Kansas Constitution, which bans same-sex marriage. The opinion, though, does say that the registry would need to be open only to Lawrence residents, or else the city could be found to be overstepping its constitutional authority.

The registry has been proposed by a group of Lawrence citizens, but city commissioners have not acted on their request. Instead, commissioners said they wanted to receive a legal opinion from the Attorney General’s office before moving forward on the idea.

For more on the story, see 6News at 6 p.m. and tomorrow’s Journal-World.