The Utah Attorney General's Office announced Wednesday that it will appeal the decision by 10th Circuit Court to uphold gay marriage to the Supreme Court. Instead of asking for a full-court review, the state will take the case directly to the highest court.

"To obtain clarity and resolution from the highest court, the Utah Attorney General's Office will not seek en banc review of the Kitchen v. Herbert Tenth Circuit decision, but will file a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United State Supreme Court in the coming weeks," a state news release said. "Attorney General Sean Reyes has a sworn duty to defend the laws of our state. Utah's Constitutional Amendment 3 is presumed to be constitutional unless the highest court deems otherwise."

The three-judge panel in 10th Circuit Court ruled in a 2-1 decision on June 25 that states cannot bar individuals from marriage simply because they choose partners of the same sex. With this ruling it became law in the six states within the 10th Circuit's jurisdiction: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. The panel then placed the ruling on hold pending an appeal.

More than 1,000 same-sex couples wed in Utah after the ban was struck down and before the hold on the ruling was in place.

The state has spent nearly $300,000 paying attorneys to defend its same-sex marriage ban in court, and could easily cost Utah another $300,000 to have the same three attorneys defend the case at the Supreme Court level.

A Yale University law professor, William Eskridge, told the Associated Press that the Supreme Court is under no obligation to hear the case nor is there a deadline for a decision. Eskridge does not predict a ruling any time soon.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is ruling on Virginia's ban soon, and arguments are scheduled in other courts in August and September from several states, including Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nevada and Idaho.

"Why make a decision on the Utah case until they see what the other circuits are going to do?" Eskridge said.