Clackamas County Clerk and Recording Office

About the Clackamas County Clerk

The County Clerk is Catherine McMullen, who began service in 2023. The county says she is a Certified County Clerk with a background in public libraries and elections. As Clerk, she is the county's head election official and the keeper of county public records.

The office sits on the Red Soils Campus, separate from the courthouse. The main Clerk office and the Recording Division are in the same building but use different suites and phone lines. That layout matters when you visit, since recording and marriage business runs through Suite 110 while the main Clerk office is in Suite 100.

The Clerk's mission, as the county frames it, centers on public trust: accurate elections, faithful recording of property transactions, marriage licenses, and the long-term care of the public record. Those duties are wide, but none of them include court case files, which is the most common point of confusion for the public.

What the Clackamas County Clerk Does

The Clerk's work spans several divisions. Each handles a different set of county records. The office both records documents and preserves them for the long term.

• Elections - voter registration, ballots, and results for more than 325,000 registered voters across 16 cities.
• Recording - deeds, plats, board orders, marriage licenses, and domestic partnerships.
• Records Management - retention, microfilm, and county archives.
• Passports - passport application acceptance.
• Other - the Property Value Appeals Board process and OLCC liquor licensing in unincorporated areas.

The Clerk's overview page describes Catherine McMullen and the divisions.

The Clackamas County Clerk page lays out the office and its roles.

It is the right starting point for recording, marriage, and election questions.

Elections and Voter Records

The Clerk is the county's head election official. The Elections Division registers voters, designs and mails ballots, verifies signatures, and reports results. The county says it has more than 325,000 registered voters across 16 incorporated cities and manages 26 ballot drop sites.

Election records, voter registration, candidate filings, and county voters' pamphlets all run through this division. These are public records, separate from court and recording files. When people ask the Clerk for election information, this is the division that holds it.

Records Management and Passports

Beyond recording and elections, the Clerk preserves the county's public record. The Records Management division supports retention, microfilm, and archives, and it helps county departments make records available. The office also accepts passport applications.

This long-term preservation role is why the Clerk is called the keeper of county public records. It is a different job from the court's case-file work, even though both deal with public records.

Recording Documents and Copies

The Recording Division records real property transactions and other documents. It also issues marriage licenses and officiates weddings. To get a copy of a recorded document, you can request one by mail or in person. Document recording stops at 4:30 p.m., before the office closes.

Recorded documents become part of the permanent public record, which is why recording carries a per-page fee and strict formatting rules. A nonstandard document costs more to record. The division publishes a full fee schedule for its services.

See the Recording Division fee schedule for current charges.

The same page covers recording, copy, certification, and mailing fees.

How to Get a Copy of a Recorded Document

Copies of recorded documents come from the Recording Division. You can request one in person or by mail. Knowing the document type and the parties speeds the search.

1. Identify the document type and the names or recording date.
2. Contact the Recording Division in person or by mail at Suite 110.
3. Pay the search fee plus the per-page copy charge.
4. Ask for certification if you need a certified copy.
5. Pick up the copy, or have it mailed for the listed mailing fee.

For a marriage record, the same division handles certified copies once the signed license is returned and recorded.

Clackamas County Clerk Fees

Recording fees are set per page and per document. Marriage and copy fees are listed separately. The table covers the most common charges.

Each additional page beyond the first is $0.25, and a certified, mailed copy is listed at $8.50 by the Recording Division. A waiting-period waiver for a marriage license is $15, and a marriage license amendment is $20. The Clerk does not take personal checks for marriage licenses, so plan to pay by card, cash, certified check, or money order.

Marriage Licenses Through the Clerk

Marriage licenses are a core Clerk service. Both parties apply together, fill out the online application, and schedule an appointment with the Recording Division. The license carries a three-day waiting period unless waived, and the signed license must be returned for recording before a certified copy is available.

The marriage and divorce records page covers the license steps, fees, and certified copies in full.

The Clerk also records domestic partnerships and officiates weddings. A domestic partnership is recorded like a marriage, and the office can perform a civil ceremony for a fee. Because the Clerk handles both the license and the recording, one office sees the whole process, from application to the final recorded record.

Expanded Walk-In Services

The Clerk has widened access in recent years. In 2025 the office added walk-in Wednesdays for services including marriage licenses and passport applications at the Recording Division. The change responded to strong demand for those services.

A county news release announced the expanded hours.

The county covered the move in its walk-in Wednesdays announcement.

Walk-in hours give a faster option than waiting for an appointment for license and passport business, and the county has framed the change as part of a broader push to widen public access to Clerk services.

County Clerk vs Court Records Office

The two offices are easy to mix up. The County Clerk records property and vital documents and runs elections. The court records office keeps court case files. A deed or marriage record comes from the Clerk, while a court case copy comes from the court.

For court case files and certified court copies, see the Clerk of Court page. For open-records requests across county offices, see public records.

Related Clackamas County Records

For marriage and divorce, see marriage and divorce records. For court case files, see court records. For the court records office, see the Clerk of Court page.