Services offered at the Lee County Clerk’s office in Cape Coral were scaled back Monday as part of a cost cutting move.
Document recording, marriage license processing, passport application processing, certified copies and civil and probate case filings are no longer available.
Residents looking for those services must now travel to the downtown Fort Myers office.
Clerk of the Circuit Court Charlie Green said the move will save his office $140,000 a year.
Facing an overall 8 percent decrease is revenue, Green said he considered completely shutting down the office before reconsidering.
“Our original concept was to shut it down in total, but we had so many traffic tickets we kept it open,” he said.
Vehicle services are still available at the Cape office, located on Southeast Ninth Place across from the post office. Court proceedings are also still being held.
Green said recording and passport services could return if the market improves.
“If the market picks up and the percentage of cases and recordings out of the Cape is enough, if it’s financially feasible, we can open that office back up,” he said. “We’re not turning our back on the Cape, we’re saving the taxpayers money.”
According to Green, the service most likely to return would be filing, as he and his staff are in the process of cross-training the remaining employees.
Residents will have the opportunity to start filing electronically, which Green said would save time and money.
“We’re not abandoning the Cape, just cutting back,” he said.
The Fort Myers recording office is on the Second Floor at 2115 2nd St. The civil and probate offices are located on the Second Floor at 1700 Monroe St. in Fort Myers.
For more information, contact the Lee County Clerk of Courts at 533-2555, or e-mail leeclerk_info@leeclerk.org.