Harris County Clerk’s office welcomes walk-ins again after COVID threat level lowered

The Harris County Clerk’s office reopened for walk-in service Wednesday, one week after Judge Lina Hidalgo lowered the county's COVID threat level to yellow. Residents now can apply for a marriage license, file a deed or submit other personal records without an appointment at any of the clerk’s 11 offices across the county. Filing for maps and paternity acknowledgments still will require an appointment, the clerk’s office said.

In-person services were suspended again in January when the county entered the highest threat level as hospitalizations mounted amid the post-holiday omicron surge. Announcing the change Wednesday morning, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said all set appointments will be honored, but residents are welcome to walk in earlier if they choose. Hidalgo lowered the county’s COVID threat level last week, signaling a controlled level of cases following the decline of the omicron wave.