Fayette County Clerk’s office will remain closed until July 6 despite OK to reopen
Despite Gov. Andy Beshear’s green light to reopen many government offices to in-person traffic Monday, Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins Jr. said the county office that oversees vehicle registration and titles, marriage licenses and voter registration will not reopen until July 6 at the earliest.
Blevins said reopening poses too many risks to the public and his staff.
“Most county clerk offices will need to remain closed to the public until after the primary election in late June,” Blevins said.” We simply cannot risk a member of staff contracting the virus and forcing a quarantine of all or part of an office. It will jeopardize our ability to support and conduct the election.”
The primary election has been rescheduled for June 23.
The clerk’s office workers are paid whether the office is closed or open.
The office closed its door to the public in mid-March after the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 began to climb. It has since moved many of its operations online or made other changes to decrease in-person transactions.
“We have redesigned our workflows so that all transactions are still available, albeit with restrictions to accommodate the safety of the public and the staff,” Blevins said.
Voters can continue to register to vote or update their addresses by submitting a new registration form online at www.govoteky.com until 4:00 p.m. on May 26. Registrations by mail must be postmarked by May 26. Marriage licenses can be obtained by appointment. Vehicle registration can be renewed online at drive.ky.gov. or can be renewed by mail at Fayette County Clerk, 162 E. Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507. To find out more, go to the Fayette County Clerk’s web site at www.fayettecountyclerk.com.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 7:42 AM.
