Getting married in Nueces County starts at the clerk's window on Leopard Street

The marriage license counter sits in the Nueces County Courthouse at 901 Leopard Street, Room 201, in downtown Corpus Christi. The County Clerk, an office Kara Sands holds, issues the license, and there's no mailing it in or sending one partner alone: both people apply together in person, photo ID in hand. The office line is (361) 888-0580.

A Texas license is good statewide, so a couple can apply in Nueces County and marry anywhere in Texas. The state's 72-hour waiting period between getting the license and the ceremony still applies, with the usual exemptions, so a courthouse wedding isn't quite same-day.

The County Clerk is the keeper of a lot more than wedding paperwork. Birth and death certificates, assumed-name filings, and livestock brands all run through the same office. If you need a certified copy of any of those down the road, this is the window you'll be back at.