Chatham County clerk opens passport office

The Chatham County Superior Court Clerk office traditionally has been the home for staid old property records, civil or criminal case filings, or legal documents the public may never see.

Clerk Tammie Mosley is moving past that model and expanding her public service role for county residents to become a passport acceptance facility to provide services once the sole domain of the federal post office.

“We’re up and running,” Mosley said this week in her third-floor office at the Chatham County Courthouse, 133 Montgomery St.

The idea of turning her office into a passport acceptance facility has been a goal since shortly after becoming clerk in January 2017, she said.

“I wanted to provide new services to the community,” Mosley said. “Expanding the services performed by the clerk meets the needs of our citizens and keeps this office relevant and up to date.”

In doing so, she becomes the newest acceptance site for passport seekers in Chatham County, one of 20 in the region. Many of those are U.S. Post Office sites, the traditional providers for passports.

Mosley’s office joins court clerks in Bryan, Effingham, Liberty, Bulloch, Wayne, Screven and Tattnall counties in Southeast Georgia and Jasper and Colleton counties in South Carolina in offering passport services. 

Mosley and five of her deputy clerks have passed the required training and tests to be able to handle the tasks, which Mosley sees “as a way to assist the entire community with new and renewed passports.”

The office can assist with new passports or renewal passports.

It also provides revenue for the county from passports and photo fees, she said.

The service, which began with Airman 2nd Class Taylor Earl applying for her passport on Aug. 14, has produced about 13 passports to date, Mosley said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the program is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 13 in Mosley's office.

How it works

Mosley said you can access the state department’s website travel.state.gov, then go to passports to find local facilities on where to apply. You can either print and complete the application, then take it to the courthouse, or pick up and complete an application at her office when you arrive, she said.

You can also take a photo with you when you go or clerks can take one for you for $14.

Once at the courthouse, Mosley has provided a window where a clerk can assist.

“You have to be able to prove you are a citizen and have photo identification,” she said.

You will be required to pay two fees, one to the U.S. State Department and one to the county clerk’s office — all by cash or checks because no credit cards are accepted, she said.

The entire process takes anywhere between 35 minutes to an hour to complete, she said.

The clerk’s office will send the completed application to an issuance agency where it should be completed and returned within four to six weeks. For those seeking an expedited passport, it can be obtained in three weeks or less for a small additional fee, she said.

View a schedule of U.S. passport fees and payment instructions with this article at savannahnow.com.