Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Contact Card
The Douglas County Clerk and Recorder is separate from the Clerk of Court. Douglas County describes the Clerk and Recorder as chief election official, agent of the State of Colorado for motor vehicle titling and licensing, ex-officio recorder of property and other legal documents, agent of the State for issuing marriage licenses and certificates, and clerk to the Board of County Commissioners.
Douglas County Clerk and Recorder / Recording Office
301 Wilcox Street
Castle Rock, CO 80104
303-660-7446
General Clerk and Recorder phone: 303-660-7469
Marriage appointments: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., excluding holidays
Use the Recording Office for recorded-document searches, certified recorded-document copy questions, marriage and civil union licenses, passport acceptance information, and special district public notices. Use Douglas County Combined Courts for divorce decrees, criminal dispositions, probate documents, civil judgments, and other court case-file copies.
What the County Clerk and Recorder Does
The Recording Office records, indexes, copies, and preserves permanent public documents, primarily real estate records. It also issues marriage and civil union licenses, serves as a passport acceptance center, and posts special district public notices. These duties sit outside the court clerk's case-file system even though some users search for them together.
- Records and indexes real estate and other legal documents.
- Provides LandmarkWeb public access to recorded-document index and images.
- Issues marriage and civil union licenses at the Castle Rock Recording Office.
- Handles certified recorded-document copy contact through the Recording Office at 303-660-7446.
- Serves as county election official, motor vehicle agent, and clerk to the Board of County Commissioners.
- Does not provide court case files, divorce decrees, criminal dispositions, probate orders, or District Court pleadings.
LandmarkWeb Field Table
Douglas County LandmarkWeb is the public recorded-document search portal. The research file describes it as a free recorded-document search with document index and images. The portal notice says document images may be printed or downloaded from search results, but certified copies require contacting the Recording Office.
| Field or Control | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search type / public search screens | Tabs or search modes | Unspecified | Catalis/LandmarkWeb public interface loads search screens. |
| Name or document fields | Text | Unspecified | Use grantor, grantee, or document-related terms when available. |
| Recording date range | Date | Optional/unspecified | Useful for narrowing recorded documents. |
| Document number / reception number | Text | Optional/unspecified | Use exact document or reception number if known. |
| Search, reset, and result actions | Buttons / links | Not applicable | Search results may allow image printing or downloading; certified copies require office contact. |
Recording and Marriage Fee Table
The research captures Douglas County recording fee facts from the recording documents page and the flat fee schedule effective July 1, 2025. It also captures the marriage late-return fee rule. It does not capture a base marriage-license amount or certified marriage-copy amount, so those should be checked with the Recording Office rather than inferred.
| Item | Fee / Note |
|---|---|
| Recording flat fee, regular document | $43 total beginning July 1, 2025, reflected by $40 flat fee plus surcharges. |
| Documentary tax | $.01 per $100 of applicable consideration. |
| Clerk technology surcharge | $1 per document received for recording or filing. |
| Electronic Recording Technology Board surcharge | $2 surcharge. |
| Certified recorded-document copies | Contact the Recording Office at 303-660-7446. |
| Marriage or civil union license | Current base amount not captured in the research; verify with Douglas County marriage appointment guidance. |
| Late return of signed marriage/civil union license | Minimum not less than $20, plus $5 for each additional day, not to exceed $50. |
Certified Recorded Copy Steps
A downloaded LandmarkWeb image may be helpful for research, but certified copies require Recording Office contact. A certified copy is the county-issued copy used when an agency, title company, lender, or legal process requires certification.
- Search LandmarkWeb by name, recording date range, document number, reception number, or other available recorded-document terms.
- Confirm that the document is a Douglas County recorded document and not a court order, divorce decree, probate filing, or Sheriff's record.
- Print or download an available public image for informal review if the portal offers that action.
- Contact the Douglas County Recording Office at 303-660-7446 for certified copy instructions, cost, payment, and delivery method.
- Provide the document number, recording date, parties, and document type when asking for the certified copy.
Marriage License and Copy Steps
The Recording Office issues marriage and civil union licenses at 301 Wilcox Street in Castle Rock. Appointments may be scheduled 28 days in advance, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays. Both applicants must appear unless one applicant uses the Marriage License Absentee Affidavit or Civil Union Absentee Affidavit.
- Schedule the license appointment with the Douglas County Recording Office.
- Have both applicants appear or prepare the proper absentee affidavit when one applicant cannot appear.
- Confirm that the ceremony will occur in Colorado; Colorado residency is not required.
- Use the issued license within 35 days of issuance.
- Choose a religious, civil, or self-solemnization ceremony. Witnesses are not required, though they may sign if desired.
- Return the signed original license to the Recording Office within 63 days of the ceremony.
- Request official copies from the County Clerk's Office instead of sending the original license to other agencies.
County CORA Requests and Office Boundaries
Douglas County uses a JustFOIA public portal for county department and office CORA requests, excluding Sheriff records. That portal is not the same as LandmarkWeb and is not the same as the Judicial Branch records request process. Use it for county administrative records when the record is held by a county department or office rather than the court, Sheriff, or Clerk and Recorder recording index.
Sheriff's reports, citations, jail records, and medical records follow the Sheriff's CJRA/CORA process. Court case files follow the Colorado Judicial Branch process. This separation is especially important in Douglas County because a single event can produce a Sheriff's report, a court case, a recorded document, and a county administrative record, each with a different custodian.
County Clerk and Recorder vs. Clerk of Court
The County Clerk and Recorder handles recorded property and legal documents, marriage and civil union licensing, elections, motor vehicle, and Board clerk work. The Clerk of Court handles filings, dockets, case files, court payments, transcript requests, and case-document requests for Douglas County District Court and County Court.
Use the Clerk of Court for divorce decrees, criminal dispositions, probate letters and orders, civil judgments, District Court pleadings, County Court traffic cases, small claims, evictions, and court hearing records. Use the County Clerk and Recorder for recorded instruments, LandmarkWeb searches, marriage licenses, and official marriage/civil union copies.
Practical Request Routing
If the document was recorded against real property or in the county recording system, start with LandmarkWeb and the Recording Office. If the document was filed in a lawsuit, divorce, probate, criminal, juvenile, traffic, eviction, small claims, or protection-order case, start with the Colorado Judicial Branch records request process or Douglas County Combined Courts. If the record is a Sheriff's incident, jail, medical, citation, or law-enforcement record, start with DCSO records. If the record is a general county department record, start with the Douglas County JustFOIA CORA portal.
For many users, the fastest first question is whether the document has a recording number or a court case number. A recording or reception number points to the Clerk and Recorder. A case number, hearing date, party caption, docket entry, or judge points to the court clerk.