After remaining closed since March to help stop the spread of COVID-19, Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen is excited to announce the reopening of his offices to the public effective Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

The department will be offering all its services while implementing social distancing guidelines to ensure the safety of staff and customers. Services will resume at the department’s North County branch office in Anaheim, its South County branch office in Laguna Hills, at the Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana and at the County Administration South building at the Civic Center Plaza in Santa Ana. The department’s Westminster location will remain closed until further notice.

“I am excited to be able to offer our full array of services to the public at our offices during these challenging times,” said Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen. “We have continued working hard for the public behind closed doors. Providing our services without disruption has been our ultimate goal. We have worked hard to ensure that we will be providing these services in the safest way possible under the current circumstances. I would like to thank my staff for their hard work and for helping make this reopening possible.”

“It’s great to see an integral part of County of Orange services is re-opening to the general public under the direction of County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen,” said Chairwoman Michelle Steel, Second District. “We’d like
to thank applaud the hard work of County staff for ensuring the health and welfare of constituents are protected in order to be re-opened more fully.”

“I applaud Clerk-Recorder, Hugh Nguyen, and his incredible department for implementing innovative approaches to serve the people of Orange County during the last few months,” said Vice Chairman Andrew Do, First District. “Continuing to find innovative ways to serve residents throughout this pandemic has been difficult, but Hugh has risen to the challenge. It is encouraging to see the Clerk-Recorder’s office being selected to move into Phase 3 of the reopening plan, which will allow us to test our county’s ability to safely provide services moving forward.”

“Clerk-Record Hugh Nguyen has creatively resolved access issues to ensure Orange County residents can maintain access to vital County services throughout the past several months due to COVID-19,” said Supervisor
Donald Wagner, Third District. “It’s great to see that the public can now more fully access Clerk-Recorder services throughout the County.”

“The County of Orange is working hard to ensure we re-open more of our departments to the public and the Clerk-Recorder’s office is at the forefront of doing so,” said Supervisor Doug Chaffee, Fourth District. “My congratulations are to Hugh Nguyen and his staff for working so diligently to make his customers feel more comfortable and aware of what is re-opening.”

“County of Orange staff are committed to re-opening after COVID-19,” said Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, Fifth District. “Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen has shown a great deal of determination in ensuring greater public access to important County services.”

The department has been working hard to prepare the offices for this reopening and has taken the following steps to ensure a safe experience for its staff and customers:

• A Plexiglas barrier is in place at every public counter used to serve the public.
• Workstations have been spaced out six feet apart.
• The department will provide staff with masks, gloves and hand sanitizer for their workstations.
• Hand sanitizer will be available to customers in the public areas of the offices.
• The department will have masks on-hand should a customer request one during their visit.
• Social distancing floor markers and signage are in place at all locations to remind customers to social distance.
• All public kiosk/terminals have been spaced out six feet apart.
• Each location will have strategically placed stanchions to encourage one-way foot traffic to enter and exit.
• Staff will constantly clean frequently used surfaces throughout the day.
• To protect the health and well-being of customers and staff, restrooms will remain closed to the public at our Anaheim office.

Services will be available as follows:

North County Branch Office – Anaheim, South County Branch Office – Laguna Hills

• Marriage Licenses and Ceremonies – Couples must complete their marriage license application and make an
appointment online prior visiting our office. Service is by appointment only, no walk-ins. For complete details visit https://www.ocrecorder.com/services/marriage
• Real Property Document Recording Services – Only one customer may enter the office per transaction. Each transaction is limited to a maximum of three documents.
• Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates – Must complete the application online at https://www.ocrecorder.com/services/records prior to visiting our office. Only the customer requesting the service will be allowed to enter the office.
• Fictitious Business Name Statements – Must complete the statement online at https://www.ocrecorder.com/services/fictitious_business_name prior to visiting our offices. Only the customer requesting the service will be allowed to enter the office.
• Notary Public Registrations
• Copies of official records
• Environmental Impact Report Filings
• No Passport Services available at this time.

County Administration Building – Civic Center Santa Ana

• Real Property Document Recording Services – Only one customer may enter the office per transaction. Each transaction is limited to a maximum of three documents. Attorney service drop-offs and pick-ups are resumed.
• Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates – Must complete the application online at https://www.ocrecorder.com/services/records prior to visiting our office. Only the customer requesting the service will be allowed to enter the office.
• Fictitious Business Name Statements – Must complete the statement online at https://www.ocrecorder.com/services/fictitious_business_name prior to visiting our office. Only the customer requesting service will be allowed to enter the office.
• Notary Public and Professional Registrations
• Copies of official records
• Environmental Impact Report Filings

Old County Courthouse – Santa Ana

• Marriage Licenses and Ceremonies – Couples must complete their marriage license application and make an appointment online prior to visiting our office. Service is by appointment only, no walk-ins. For complete details visit https://www.ocrecorder.com/services/marriage
• OC Archives
• No Passport Services are available at this time.

The following restrictions will be in place:

Marriage Services

• Couples must complete their marriage license application and make an appointment online prior visiting our office. Marriage license applications and appointments are available at https://ocweddings.ocrecorder.com/#/.
• The department will not be accepting walk-in customers at this time. Services are by appointment only.
• For couples looking to obtain a marriage license, only the couple can be present. No guests allowed.
• For couples looking to obtain a public marriage license and have a ceremony performed, only the couple and one witness may be present. No guests allowed.
• For couples looking to obtain a confidential marriage license and have a ceremony performed, only the couple can be present. No guests allowed.
• All marriage ceremonies will be performed at the service desk/counter. Ceremony rooms are not available at this time.

The Clerk-Recorder’s offices closed to the public on March 17, 2020 due to orders from state and local health officials to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. For information on the department’s services, please call the information line at (714) 834-2500, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or visit OCRecorder.com.