dutchess county clerk in new york

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The Dutchess County Clerk’s Office is the county clerk for Dutchess County, New York.  The Dutchess County Clerk is responsible for serving the public in a variety of ways.  The County Clerk’s Office is responsible for the Motor Vehicle Department, the passport office, and the records room.  The current Dutchess County Clerk is Bradford Kendall.

Information about Dutchess County

Dutchess County is a county in the southeastern part of New York.  At the 2010 Census, the population of Dutchess County was 297,488.  The County seat of Dutchess County is Poughkeepsie.  Dutchess County is in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.  Dutchess County contains the cities, villages, communities, or towns of: Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Amenia, Beekman, Clinton, Dover, East Fishkill, Fishkill, Hyde Park, La Grange, Milan, North East, Pawling, Pine Plains, Pleasant Valley, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Stanford, Union Vale, Wappinger, Washington, Millbrook, Millerton, Tivoli, Wappinger’s Falls, Amenia, Annandale-on-Hudson, Arlington, Arthursburg, Attlebury, Bangall, Bear Market, Brinckerhoff, Barnegat, Barrytown, Crown Heights, De Witt Mills, Dover Plains, Fairview, Fishkill Plains, Freedom Plains, Gayhead, Glenham, Gretna, Haviland, Hillside Lake, Holmes, Hopewell Junction, Hortontown, Hughsonville, Hyde Park, Johnsontown, Knapps Corner, Lomala, McIntyre, Merrit Park, Myers Corner, New Hackensack, New Hamburg, Norrie Heights, Oniontown, Pecksville, Pleasant Plains, Poughquag, Red Oaks Mill, Rhinecliff, Rudco, Salt Point, Shenandoah, Shekomeko, Spackenkill, Staatsburg, Stanfordville, Stissing, Stormville, Swartwoutville, Titusville, Wassaic, Washington Hollow, Wiccopee, Willow Brook, Wingdale, Van Keurens, and Verbank.  If you have questions about whether your property is located in Dutchess County and do not see the name of your city, town, or township on this list, you can contact the Clerk for more information.

Role of the Dutchess County Clerk

In Dutchess County, the County Clerk is responsible for overseeing several county offices including the department of motor vehicles, passports, and county records.  The County Clerk is also responsible for overseeing the legal division of the county government.

The legal division handles both processing and records.  In this capacity, the County Clerk processes passport applications, assists in setting up new businesses, provides information on how to become a notary public and receives discharges of mortgages and filings of divorces, deeds and mortgages.

In addition to handling the filing of modern-day records, the records division has historic documents available to the public which date back to 1719. In addition to paperwork like mortgages, marriages, divorces, and deeds, this paperwork includes criminal records like indictments and convictions.  The county records also include naturalization documents.  Sealed records are not available to the public.

Utilizing the Dutchess County Clerk’s Office

The Dutchess County Clerk maintains a primary location for people to access county clerk services, a records room, and five Department of Motor Vehicle locations.  If you are unsure which location can help you, please contact the main information phone number for assistance.  There are fees associated with some of the services provided by the Dutchess County Clerk’s Office.  You can find fee schedules for Record Room Mail Fees, the Mortgage Tax Rate, the Mortgage Tax Calculator, and Miscellaneous Fees on the County Clerk’s main page.

In addition to maintaining several offices located throughout the county, the Dutchess County Clerk maintains an extensive online research database, which users may be able to access from home.

For contact information for Dutchess County Department of Motor Vehicle offices, visit here: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/CCcontact.htm.

To conduct an online ancient document search, visit here: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/26868.htm.

To conduct a County Clerk document search, visit here:

http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/12976.htm.

To find out how to file a business certificate and find forms for a business certificate, visit here: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/CCclerkinfo.htm.

To apply to become a notary public, visit here: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/CCclerkinfo.htm#NotaryPublic

For information about Passports, visit here: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/CCpassports.htm.

Selecting a County Clerk

In Dutchess County, New York, the County Clerk is an elected position.  Elections are held every four years.  If a vacancy becomes available between elections, then a County Clerk can be appointed until the next election.  The current Dutchess County Clerk is Bradford Kendall.

Bradford Kendall, Dutchess County Clerk

Bradford Kendall is the current elected County Clerk for Dutchess County. He was appointed County Clerk in December 2006 by former New York State Governor, George E. Pataki.  Clerk Kendall ran successfully for election in 2007 and re-election in 2011 and 2015.  Before becoming County Clerk, Kendall was a Dutchess County Legislator from 1994-2006, representing the towns of Dover and Union Vale

Contact the Dutchess County Clerk

You can reach the Dutchess County Clerk during business hours, which are Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm:

Dutchess County Clerk
22 Market Street
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Phone: 845-486-2120
Fax: 845-486-2138
Toll Free: 866-694-4700
Website

Dutchess County Clerk Records Room 845-486-2125

Receiving Departments/Passports 845-486-2120

Department of Motor Vehicles 845-486-2130

DMV Office Locations:

Poughkeepsie DMV
22 Market St.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Beacon DMV
223 Main St.
Beacon, NY 12508

Millbrook DMV
15 Merritt Ave., Suite 2B
Millbrook, NY 12545

Pawling DMV
20 East Main Street
Pawling, NY 12564

Wappinger DMV
Suite 3B, Hollowbrook Office Park
29 Marshall Road
Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

Conclusion

Bradford Kendall is the current Dutchess County, New York County Clerk.  He is an elected official who has been elected twice, but was originally appointed to the County Clerk position by the governor of New York.  The Dutchess County Clerk performs several functions for the county.  The County Clerk’s office is responsible for maintaining records for the county, including handling legal filings, passports, and business filings.  The County Clerk’s office also oversees the county’s department of motor vehicles.