 Jackson County on March 12 became the first county in Southern Illinois (south of the St. Louis metro area) to issue same-sex marriage licenses.As of April 18, 2016, more than 9,200 same-sex couples in Cook County alone had received marriage licenses (from February 2014), with projections that the number of marriage licenses given to same-sex couples would reach over 10,000 in the county by summer 2016.The 10,000th same-sex marriage license in Cook County was issued on August 31.