The county clerk requested and won approval to raise the passport photo fee from $10 to $12 effective Sept. 1 and used the meeting to warn residents about a spike in deed‑fraud schemes while outlining an expanding digitization program for town clerks.

“I'm requesting, your approval to as of September 1, I would like to increase the passport photo fee from $10 to 12,” Lisa, the county clerk, told the Government Operations committee. The fee increase passed by voice vote after a motion and second. Lisa said the increase remains lower than local private providers and will help offset higher equipment and supply costs; she said some neighboring counties are raising fees higher than the county’s proposed level.

Lisa also told the committee that the county and other clerks across the state are seeing more sophisticated deed-fraud schemes. She recommended residents sign up for a free fraud-alert service offered by IQS — a document-storage vendor used by the clerk’s office — and said IQS’s fraud-alert tool allows users to register up to three names and will notify them of suspicious activity. “We are seeing throughout the state a lot of deed fraud,” Lisa said, and described scheme patterns in which fraudsters contact real-estate agents with false identities.

On digitization, Lisa described a program to equip towns with scanning hardware and training. She said the county’s archives team coordinates equipment set-up and provides in-person training at the town office and emphasized that scanned records can become the official record for many document types. “Once the document is scanned, okay, it becomes the original copy,” Lisa said, and urged town clerks to consult the county archivist before disposing of original materials that may have long‑term value.

Lisa reported the county cleared the real‑ID deadline and has a revamped mobile unit that has been deployed for late-night services. She said the archives office will launch a Facebook page to publicize services and that staff will provide follow-up training as turnover occurs in town offices.

The clerk’s office will distribute fraud-alert sign‑up information by email and encouraged residents and local title companies to use the free registration tool. The clerk asked that town clerks contact the county archivist before disposing of records to confirm retention rules.

No new ordinances or state-level legal changes were adopted at the meeting; the fee increase and fraud-alert recommendation were administrative actions and outreach commitments by the clerk’s office.