Find Colfax County Marriage Records

Colfax County Marriage License Records

Marriage licenses are a Colfax County Clerk function. The Clerk's Office is at 333 Savage Ave. in Raton, with phone service at 575-445-5551. The main clerk page lists Sara Torres as County Clerk and Rayetta (LeDoux) Trujillo as Deputy Clerk. The marriage license page gives the application hours as Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the main clerk contact page lists the office as open until 5:30 p.m. Call before traveling if the timing matters.

New Mexico Department of Health guidance says copies of marriage licenses are available from the county clerk of the county where the license was issued. It also says divorce decrees come from the district court where the court order was filed. That split is important in Colfax County because the County Clerk can help with marriage licenses and certified marriage copies, but divorce decrees are District Court case records.

That custody split also affects online search. A marriage license may be tied to Clerk records and CountyFusion instructions, while a divorce case is searched as a District Court case. Case Lookup can help find public divorce metadata, but it does not supply the signed decree. The decree must come from the court record custodian or an eligible document-access channel.

The official Colfax County marriage license page lists the local application rules and current fee.

Apply for a Colfax Marriage License

A Colfax County marriage license must be purchased before the ceremony, and both applicants generally appear in person. The county page says the marriage license is valid for a ceremony anywhere in New Mexico. After the ceremony, the signed license must be returned to the issuing County Clerk within 90 days. The officiant is responsible for returning the license with certification.

1. Go to the Colfax County Clerk's Office and complete the Marriage Application Information Form.
2. Bring proof of age and identity, normally a government-issued photo ID for each applicant.
3. Both applicants appear in person unless a District Judge has authorized an exception.
4. Pay the current local cash fee at the time of application.
5. Use the license before the ceremony, then return the signed certificate to the issuing clerk within 90 days.

Colfax Marriage Form Fields

The county did not publish a downloadable Colfax marriage application PDF in the inspected research. The official source says the form is available at the County Clerk's Office. The required items are still clear enough for planning: identification, in-person appearance, cash payment, and special documents for minors or absent applicants.

Colfax Marriage and Divorce Fees

The Colfax marriage license page says the marriage license fee increased on June 20, 2025 from $25 to $55 after SB 290 was signed April 8, 2025. The county page states the $55 is cash only, payable at the time of application, with no exceptions. The older recording-fee page still lists a $25 marriage license fee, but the marriage page is newer and specific to licenses.

Note: Use the marriage license page for the current license fee because the recording-fee page contains older marriage-fee language.

Minor Applicant Rules

Colfax County's marriage page gives special rules for younger applicants. An applicant who is 16 or 17 must provide an original or certified birth certificate and written consent from each living parent listed on the birth certificate. Consent may be given in person at the Clerk's Office or by notarized statement. If a parent is deceased, a certified death certificate is required. If a living parent cannot or will not consent, District Judge authorization is required.

Applicants who are 18 through 20 use government-issued picture ID. Applicants under 16 are allowed only in the narrow pregnancy circumstance described by the county page and only when a Children's or Family Court Judge has authorized the marriage.

Look Up Colfax Marriage Records

Certified marriage copies come from the Colfax County Clerk. The Clerk's Office also maintains a recorded-document search route through CountyFusion/Kofile, but the official research does not say every marriage record image is guaranteed online. For a marriage record search, start with the Clerk's Office, the public-record search instructions, or a phone inquiry when the online search does not locate the document.

The County Clerk public record instructions say to select public login, choose public records search, and search by book and page, instrument number, or name. Name format is last, first, middle. If a record image is available, image purchases require credit card or escrow information and a service fee applies. For multiple records, the portal uses an Add to Print Queue option with a required reference name.

Find Colfax County Divorce Records

Divorce decrees are District Court records. For Colfax County, the District Court location is the Eighth Judicial District Court in Raton. Public divorce case metadata may be searched in Case Lookup by party name, District Court type, location 809 - Raton, case category if known, and a date range. Documents are not available through public Case Lookup, so the decree itself requires court request, in-person inspection, certified-copy request, or registered re:SearchNM access if eligible.

The New Mexico Courts family forms page includes dissolution forms, a Domestic Relations Information Sheet, petitions with and without children, response, entry of appearance, and related family forms. A divorce is not final until the judge signs the Final Decree of Dissolution of Marriage. Official court forms also state that one party must have resided in New Mexico for at least six months immediately before filing and have New Mexico domicile under Section 40-4-5 NMSA 1978.

New Mexico Courts publishes divorce and family forms for dissolution cases and related domestic matters.

Certified Marriage and Divorce Copies

A certified marriage copy is requested through the County Clerk because the Clerk issues and records Colfax County marriage licenses. The county recording-fee page lists a $5 certified marriage license copy. A certified divorce decree is requested from the District Court where the decree was entered because divorce decrees are court orders, not County Clerk marriage records.

When requesting either record, provide names, approximate date, record type, and contact information. For divorce records, a case number from Case Lookup can speed up the request. For marriage records, the name format used in the Clerk's public-record search may help locate the recorded document. Sensitive family, child, address, financial, and domestic violence information may be restricted in divorce files even when the case metadata is public.

For older records, ask the custodian to confirm whether the record is indexed online, held only at the counter, or requires a written request.

New Mexico Vital Records Limits

The New Mexico Department of Health vital-records guidance is useful mainly because it directs users to the proper custodian. It says marriage licenses are obtained from the county clerk and divorce decrees are obtained from the district court where filed. It is not the local Colfax County office for certified marriage licenses or divorce decrees.

Birth and death records should not be routed to the Colfax County Clerk for copying. The Clerk fee notes state that the office does not issue birth or death certificates and cannot copy death certificates or military discharge papers under any circumstances. For marriage and divorce work, keep the request limited to the license, certified marriage copy, divorce case number, decree, or family court file being sought.