Video Conferencing Kiosk for Marriage License Processing

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Providing essential services during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic created many unique challenges for agencies across the state of Texas. In March 2020, orders from the Governor and local authorities only allowed essential services to be provided so social distancing could be maintained. While other surrounding counties had shut their doors and suspended services for Vital records due to safety and distancing concerns, the Tarrant County Clerk, Mary Louise Nicholson, was determined to not allow the pandemic to interfere with statutorily required services including issuance of marriage licenses which is typically handled face-to-face. Within 24 hours of the idea’s conception, the County Clerk worked with their IT support staff to expeditiously acquire equipment and software to rapidly deploy a new contactless process and solution.A zoom capable kiosk with web conferencing was setup adjacent to the existing County Clerk’s downtown Vitals office allowing on-site issuance of marriage licenses.Over the 7-week span from March to May, 446 licenses were issued, including residents of surrounding counties.