It isn’t often a white Ford Transit van marks the pinnacle of innovation.
Still, what else would you call the debut earlier this month of Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen’s office on wheels?
“Have you seen the wrap?” Nguyen said of the county’s white mobile office van emblazoned with a giant orange, an award seal along with Nguyen’s name and title. “It’s super nice and the van is customized to all our needs.”
The last time I renewed my passport in 2020, I visited an office supply store, waited 20 minutes to pay $15 for two photos and then finished and mailed my paperwork from home. That effort amused Nguyen.
“We only charge $7 for passport photos and they’re done in two minutes,” he said. “You should have come to us.”
Nguyen’s “Clerk-Recorder on Wheels” van is his effort to provide mobile services to the county’s roughly 3 million residents, regardless of how far they live from a government office.
Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen stands in front of his mobile office van in Santa Ana.
(Courtesy of Billy Le, Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office)
From the van, clerk-recorder staffers can print birth and death certificates; provide passport services and photos, marriage licenses and ceremonies; and file fictitious business name registrations and more.
Those services were immediately tested at the van’s debut Jan. 9 in Santa Ana, where Nguyen performed a mobile marriage that surprised even him.
“I found a couple that wanted to get married by the van, so we did it,” he said.
The mobile office had performed services during a pilot run in which it visited many of the county’s 34 cities.
Part of the reasoning behind the van was cost effectiveness and availability, Nguyen said. County residents wanting such services previously needed to visit the department’s three locations in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Laguna Hills. Residents in west Orange County, however, had no nearby office to visit.
The mobile van allows for multiple trips to western county cities along with other areas.
“It’s expensive and time-consuming to open another office branch,” Nguyen said. “But the van was well within our budget at a one-time cost of just under $200,000.”
So far, the van has stopped in San Juan Capistrano, where Nguyen said his team offered passport services to over 50 individuals during a three-hour span, and Seal Beach’s retirement community Leisure World.
He said the mobile team already has 55 appointments for its scheduled Saturday visit to Anaheim’s Magnolia High School from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Those looking for an appointment can call (714) 874-0575.
The need for documentation is growing, Nguyen said.
The number of county birth, death and marriage certificate increased by 35.59%, 5.19% and 4.78%, respectively, from 2024 to 2025, according to statistics provided by Nguyen’s office.
Last year’s fires that burned homes and businesses in Pacific Palisades and Altadena showed how valuable a mobile office could be for residents looking to replace paperwork lost in a fire or other disaster.
“What if we have that type of emergency in Orange County?” Nguyen asked. “I can drive to any of our 34 cities and help people restart their lives again.”
The van is equipped with Starlink satellite internet service and is partially solar-powered, allowing for more than eight hours of heated or air-conditioned work on the road.
“People are so stressed during those types of tragedies,” he said. “We just want to ease the burden.”
(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
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