The Orange County clerk-recorder offices will be open on at least one Saturday in July to accommodate the high demand for marriage licenses among same-sex couples.
The change in hours comes after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-sentence order Friday lifting a stay on an injunction against the state’s voter-approved Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage in California.
The order cleared the way for same-sex weddings to resume, and two of the plaintiff couples in a lawsuit that reached the U.S. Supreme Court – which essentially threw the matter back to the 9th Circuit on Wednesday – were married Friday.
“We're listening to what our customers tell us they want,” Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen told the Los Angeles Times. “We'll continue to find ways to help make things easier for them.”
An announcement posted on the clerk-recorder's website says its offices will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 27. Those Saturday hours will apply at the clerk-recorder's main office in Santa Ana as well as those in Fullerton and Laguna Hills.
The only same-sex marriage license issued in Los Angeles County Friday went to Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, one of the two couples who challenged Proposition 8.
The pair were married at Los Angeles City Hall by outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, following a marriage about an hour earlier by Attorney General Kamala Harris of the two lead plaintiffs in the case at San Francisco City Hall.
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Clerk's offices in San Francisco and Sacramento had extended their hours into Friday evening to accommodate the heavy demand.
Couples who take advantage of Orange County's Saturday hours should fill out applications online at www.ocrecorder.com before showing up in person, Nguyen told the Times.
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