El Paso County Marriage & Divorce

Getting a Marriage License in El Paso County

Marriage and civil-union licenses are issued by the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Recording Department, not by the Clerk of Court. The main Recording Department is at Citizens Service Center, 1675 W. Garden of the Gods Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80907. The main phone is 719-520-6200, and the Recording Department email is recweb@elpasoco.com. Copy requests use 719-520-6198 or copyrequests@elpasoco.com.

Main Recording Department hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Marriage license issuance ends at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays. The North Office at Union Town Center, 8830 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, offers Saturday recording services from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., but a couple should confirm current marriage-license services before relying on a weekend visit. Clerk news confirms that each couple must complete the online marriage application before coming in, bring valid identification, pay the license fee, and hold the ceremony within 35 days after receiving the license.

The Clerk and Recorder's 2026 marriage license news item confirms the local fee, ID, certified copy, and timing details used here.

That local Clerk update is useful because it confirms the $30 application fee, the $1.25 certified copy cost, the ID examples, and the 35-day ceremony window.

How to Apply for a Marriage License

The El Paso County process begins online and finishes with the Clerk and Recorder. The online step is not optional in the research source: all couples must fill out the online marriage application before coming in. No appointment is needed according to the marriage license page, but the parties should leave enough time for ID review, payment, signing, and issuance before the office stops issuing licenses for the day.

1. Complete the online marriage application before visiting the Clerk and Recorder.
2. Go to a Clerk and Recorder office that issues marriage licenses.
3. Bring valid identification. The captured sources list driver's license, passport, birth certificate, and military card examples.
4. Pay the $30 license application fee by an accepted payment method; the civil union FAQ specifically lists cash or credit/debit card.
5. Hold the ceremony within 35 days of receiving the license.
6. Return the completed license for recording with the county and location of marriage, date of marriage, officiating party's signature/title, and both spouses' signatures.
7. Use the recorded license for name-change steps only after it has been returned and recorded.

Marriage License Application and Copy Fields

The live online marriage application field list was not fully visible in the captured research, so the page should not invent a complete application-screen inventory. The official sources do identify the practical information and documents a couple or requester should expect to provide: names, valid ID, payment, ceremony information, signatures, and, for application copies, a separate request form plus valid ID.

The official Marriage and Civil Union Application is the online starting point for license issuance.

Completing the online application does not by itself create the final public marriage record; the license still has to be issued, used in a ceremony, returned, and recorded.

El Paso County Marriage and Divorce Fees

Marriage record fees come from the Clerk and Recorder fee schedule and Clerk news. Divorce copies use the Colorado Judicial Branch court fee table because divorce is a District Court case record. The research did not provide a divorce filing fee, so it should not be stated as a known local amount here.

How to Look Up El Paso County Marriage Records

Marriage records are searched through Clerk and Recorder channels. The official Public Records Search is linked from the Clerk and Recorder homepage and Recording Department page. The Remote Access page says marriage records recorded from May 1, 1991 to present can be searched through Marriage/Civil Union Records Search. High-volume users can use a Remote Access subscription for recorded images and data, while occasional users can request copies directly.

Marriage copy access includes the Request for Marriage License/Certificate Copy Form and, for application copies, the Request for Marriage Application Copy Form with valid ID. Occasional copy requests can be sent to copyrequests@elpasoco.com, and mail requests can go to El Paso County Clerk & Recorder, Attn: Recording, P.O. Box 2007, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-2007. In-person requests go to the Recording Department at Citizens Service Center. The North Office offers Saturday recording services, but the main office is the most complete copy-search location.

• Online application: used before license issuance, not a final copy order by itself.
• Marriage record search: available for records from 05/01/1991 forward through the Clerk and Recorder marriage/civil-union search channel.
• Copy request: use the Clerk's marriage license/certificate copy form or email copyrequests@elpasoco.com.
• Application copy: use the separate application-copy request form and provide valid ID.
• Remote Access: available by subscription for users needing recorded image/data access.

How to Find El Paso County Divorce Records

Divorce records are District Court domestic relations records at the El Paso County Judicial Building, not Clerk and Recorder records. Use Colorado Docket Search for docket information first, then request the actual documents through the Judicial Branch Record/Document Request Form. The form's Family Matters category covers Divorce Decree, Parenting Plan, Separation Agreement, Support Order, and Petition.

1. Search Docket Search by El Paso County, District Court, party name, case number if known, and a date range.
2. Gather the case number if found; if not, use party names and date of birth on the request form.
3. Submit the Record/Document Request Form and choose the Family Matters document type, such as Divorce Decree.
4. Select El Paso County as the location of record and provide names on the case.
5. Pay assessed copy, certification, name-search, research, or retrieval fees.
6. Provide government-issued photo ID if the court requires it for suppressed, confidential, or protected material.

Divorce access channels include Docket Search, the court record request form, Room S101 at 270 S. Tejon St., 04ResearchRequest@judicial.state.co.us, and the court records phone line at 719-452-5490. No statewide public divorce index was located in the captured official sources; use the court of filing for case records.

Restricted Family and Divorce Documents

Divorce decrees may be obtainable as court records, but not every document in a domestic relations file is equally public. Parenting plans, support orders, petitions, financial attachments, child-related details, protected addresses, and information tied to juvenile or protection-order issues may be redacted, restricted, or unavailable to nonparties. The court record request form warns that suppressed cases, juvenile records, probate records, and documents with confidential or protected information may require a U.S. government-issued photo ID.

For a simple proof of divorce, request the decree rather than the entire case file. For parenting, support, or separation-agreement records, be specific about the document requested and expect the clerk to apply CJD 05-01, statutes, rules, orders, and local restrictions. Marriage license records are a separate Clerk and Recorder record set, so a divorce request should not be sent to the Clerk and Recorder unless the request is actually for a marriage license or certificate copy.

Getting Certified Copies

Certified marriage copies come from the Clerk and Recorder. The fee table supports a $0.25 copy plus $1.00 certification, for a practical certified copy cost of $1.25. Certified divorce decrees and other certified court documents come from the District Court record request process and cost $20 per certified or exemplified document, plus any copy, name search, retrieval, or research/redaction charges that apply.

Use marriage copies for proof of marriage, name-change support, benefits, or personal records. Use certified divorce decrees when an agency, employer benefit administrator, court, or financial institution requires a court-certified divorce document. If a request involves both marriage and divorce, split it between the offices: Clerk and Recorder for marriage licenses and District Court Clerk of Court for divorce case records.

El Paso County Marriage and Divorce Record Offices