Bernalillo County Clerk clerk Christopher Griffith (right) helps Joseph Overton (left) and Joi McGee obtain their marriage license Thursday morning after the office was closed for 10 days due to vandalism. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis / )
Copyright © 2021
Joi McGee and Joseph Overton were due to get married on Tuesday, but those plans went as broken as the windows in downtown Bernalillo County.
Vandals pumped bullets into the building at Silver SW 415 on Oct. 11, knocked out windows, sent glass scythes in heating and cooling units and elevator work, causing $ 45,000 in damage and forcing the building and county offices – including that – to close Office that issues marriage licenses – until Thursday morning.
“We came Monday morning to get the marriage certificate,” said McGee, 22. “We didn’t know they were closed. I said, ‘What do we do now?’ “
Overton, also 22, had a suggestion.
“I told Joi we should just invite our grandparents and great grandmother over to Vegas and even give them a call,” he said.
Instead, McGee and Overton, who met while studying at Mark Twain Elementary School in Albuquerque, postponed their wedding at a family member’s home for a few days. You were among the first to arrive at the district officer’s office Thursday morning.
“We were very relieved that they opened,” said McGee.
The $ 68 million building in Bernalillo County @ Alvarado Square opened to the public in August. It’s a busy place.
According to Tia Bland, the county’s communications director, 5,552 people stopped or checked into the building at the information desk in September.
Of these, 42.1% went to the clerk’s office, 18.8% went to planning and development services, and 11.3% went to the appraiser’s office.
The Secretary’s Office is responsible for a variety of government services, including registering voters, conducting elections, and serving as the custodian of public records. People go there to file deeds, mortgages, liens and so on. But Bland said many of the people who go to the clerk’s office are looking for a marriage license.
“Marriage licenses are # 1 for walk-in customers,” she said.
As expected, Thursday was an exceptionally busy day. By 10 a.m., at least half a dozen couples had come by to get licenses, and several other people had stopped by to submit licenses for weddings that had already taken place.
“We typically have 90 to 100 customers a day for all services,” says Darlene Hernandez, records supervisor in the clerk’s office. By 5 p.m. Thursday, Hernandez said the secretary’s office served 196 people and issued an estimated 60 marriage licenses.
Some things can wait when the clerk’s office is closed. But people need a marriage certificate to be legally married, and both parties have to go to the clerk’s office in person to get the license.
Andrea Abeyta, left, carries a marriage certificate and her fiancée Meese Broome carries the couple’s three-month-old daughter Ava as they leave headquarters in downtown Bernalillo County on Thursday. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis / )
“I didn’t know I had to come here and get (the license),” said landscaper Meese Broome, 32, from Albuquerque. “If I had that, I would have come earlier.”
Broome, Andrea Abeyta, 37, and their three-month-old daughter Ava were at the clerk’s office Thursday morning. Broome and Abeyta are getting married on Friday.
There will be a small ceremony in their home with friends serving as witnesses and a judge. The two are planning a more formal wedding in a chapel in the old town in the spring or maybe next fall. The wedding on Friday could have been postponed if necessary.
“But the judge is available on Friday,” said Broome. “And Friday is my birthday, so I’ll never forget our anniversary.”
Jasmine Jackson, 21, and Adrian Ritchie, 20, were also in the clerk’s office on Thursday morning to get a marriage certificate.
“We tried to come on the day (the vandalism) happened,” Jackson said. “Nobody was here. A security guard told us to come back next week. “
Jackson and Ritchie won’t get married until next month, but they said they need the license now to make arrangements.
“We haven’t found anyone to officiate because they’re asking if you have your license,” Jackson said. “We wanted to be able to give appointments to our family and friends.”
Comments are closed.