LAKEPORT — No protesters were seen at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport Tuesday, the first day the County Clerk”s Office could legally issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
“I have heard no complaints from anybody, no phone calls, no picketers ? nothing,” County Clerk Pam Cochrane said.
Cochrane said her office issued one marriage license Tuesday to Doyle Eugene Awtrey and Steven Peter Sartori, a Lakeport couple. Lucerne residents Jessica Pritchett and Shadow Abrew will be the first same-sex couple to be married in Lake County, with the first available appointment this morning. Phone inquiries about same-sex marriage licenses and civil ceremonies rose only slightly.
“We have gotten calls, but not more or less than we expected,” Deputy Clerk Marcie Harrison said. In the last two days, Harrison said the number of calls approached 20.
Jan Pankratz, a retiring deputy commissioner of civil marriages at the clerk”s office, will perform Lake County”s first same-sex marriage today at the courthouse. Pankratz said she has officiated over 600 marriages in her six years as a deputy commissioner, and this will be her first same-sex marriage.
“I”m excited about it. Friday is my last day, and I was hoping there would be at least one before I retired,” Pankratz said.
The clerk”s office performs civil ceremonies by appointment only on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, depending on the availability of the board of supervisors” chambers. This week the hours are extended to accommodate a possible influx. Appointments are available today and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. To schedule an appointment for a civil ceremony, call 263-2311.
Marriage licenses are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the County Clerk/Auditor-Controller”s Office in Room 209 on the second floor of the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.
The California Supreme Court issued a May 15 ruling that overturned the state”s ban on same-sex marriages. The forms available beginning Tuesday are non-gender specific.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
