County to Shut All but 3 Offices for Marriage Licenses

As if marriage isn’t tough enough, county officials have decided to stop issuing marriage licenses anywhere except downtown Los Angeles, Norwalk and Lancaster.

Raising the prospect of lengthy drives for many spouses-to-be, officials have decided that marriage licenses no longer will be issued at county courthouses, effective July 1, because of budget cuts. The move is expected to save about $560,000 annually.

“There have to be some reductions in services, and this is one of them,” Richard Hughes, an assistant registrar-recorder and county clerk, said Thursday.

Marriage licenses currently are issued by clerk’s offices at all 14 Superior Courthouses and by the downtown, Lancaster and Norwalk registrar-recorder offices. By July 1, all the courthouse offices will close. Their clerks will be assigned other duties.

County officials realize this will be an inconvenience in areas ranging from Malibu and Westlake Village to Pomona and Long Beach, but Hughes could offer little consolation.

“I know it will be a long way to go for some people,” he said. “But, hopefully, it will be a one-shot deal. If it’s that important to you, you’ll drive the distance. People drive to Las Vegas to get married.”

Cindy Thomas, supervising district clerk at the Van Nuys courthouse, one of the places where the service will be terminated, suggested that an alternative for couples wishing to avoid a long drive would be to go to a wedding chapel authorized to issue confidential licenses.

To qualify for a confidential license, which is not open to public inspection, a couple must be living together, Hughes said. No blood test is necessary.

“I think what this will do is stimulate the economy,” he said. “The wedding chapels could advertise this service and take advantage of the situation.”

But one wedding consultant said he was furious at the county’s decision.

“I am so irate,” said Robert Ringler of Bel-Air Wedding Ceremonies and Services, who said it would be inconvenient for him because he travels once a week to the Santa Monica Courthouse to collect paperwork.

In addition, he said, a slew of shady wedding chapels may pop up to exploit the shortage of county offices by offering high-priced licenses.

The Rev. Ruth Robertson of the Blossoms of the Valley chapel in Reseda agreed that couples might be exploited by such chapels. “People better be sure to watch out for that,” she said.

The county clerk’s office was consolidated with the registrar of voters and the recorder in 1991. Their operations are now based in a new building in the Norwalk Civic Center on East Imperial Highway. In addition to the marriage license office in that building, licenses will be available after July 1 at the downtown Hall of Records and in the county office complex in Lancaster.

Hughes said officials decided to close the offices last week after talks with the county’s chief administrative officer.