Town Clerk

Hours

Monday - Friday (8:30 am – 4:15 pm) -  please call 631-351-3206

Mission and Operating Environment

In addition to General Operations, the operating environment for the Town Clerk’s Office is divided into four separate duty areas: Commissioner of Licenses, Registrar of Vital Statistics, Secretary to the Town Board and Records Management Officer.

The Town Clerk’s Office provides the general public, residents and non-residents, attorneys, accountants and other professionals with information on varied subjects including, but not limited to, local government services, town ordinances, local laws, State and local license and permit requirements, maintenance of related records pertaining to the issuance of those licenses and permits as well as issuing and maintaining records for Resident and Non-Resident Commuter Parking permits. In addition to assisting residents that walk into Town Hall, a large portion of work is generated through mail, e-mail, facsimile, telephone and internal Town Hall Department requests.

Commissioner of Licenses for New York State

As licensing agent, the Town Clerk is responsible for the issuing New York State licenses such as Sporting and Marriages Licenses, One- day Marriage Officiant Licenses (effective March 28, 2023), Disability Parking Permits and authority for issuing of Bingo and Games of Chance Licenses, among others. The Town Clerk’s office also issues Local Licenses and Permits : Dog, Shellfish, Taxicab, Tow Truck, Peddler, Refuse, Automobile Junk Yard, Commuter Parking Permits, Christmas Tree Sale Permits, Sound Permits, Landscaper Registration, among others.

The Town Clerk also serves as Commissioner of Elections for Special Elections held within the Town. As Marriage Officer for the Town of Huntington, the Town Clerk has authority to perform Civil Marriage Ceremonies.

The Town Clerk serves as the Registrar of Vital Statistics for the Town and the Incorporated Villages of Asharoken, Huntington Bay and Lloyd Harbor for the issuance and filing of Birth and Death Certificates. The Registrar of Vital Statistics processes births and deaths that occur in the Town (excluding births and deaths in the Village of Northport and the Federally run Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Northport), as well as daily certified transcript requests. In addition the department also processes birth and death verifications for military, state and federal agencies. Requests are received from the NYS Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services for certified birth transcripts and Acknowledgments of Paternity transcripts. The Registrar processes certified transcripts of live birth and death certificates and Acknowledgments of Paternity that are mandated by State law, within the time period established for issuing, recording and filing Certificates of Live Birth Registration and Death Certificates with NYS Department of Health in Albany.

The Town Clerk attends all Town Board Meetings acting as clerk, and is required to keep a complete and accurate record of the proceedings of each meeting. The Town Clerk is responsible for Town Board and Board of Trustees minutes, legal notices, certifications of Town records and acceptance of change of zone applications, among other responsibilities.

As Secretary to the Town Board, the Town Clerk is responsible for maintaining all of these records generated relative to Town Board meetings and Town Board matters including Town Board and Board of Trustee Agendas and Minutes in both paper and electronic form.

The Town Clerk is responsible for accepting legal paperwork including Notice of Claims, Duces Tecum, Summons and Complaints, Petitions, Zone Change applications and various other items.

The Town Clerk is responsible for filing all Local Laws with the New York Department of State, filing Home Rule Requests with the both Houses of the New York State Legislature and filing Street Dedications with various local agencies, among other mandates.

The Town Clerk is responsible for Legal Publishing and Postings of various Town Board proceedings, Executive orders and miscellaneous electronic postings for local Fire and Water Districts.

New York State mandates a Records Management Program. The Town Clerk is Records Management Officer (RMO) for the Town of Huntington and shall oversee the Records Management Program, whose mission is to provide the ongoing, coordinated, administrative effort to systematically manage the Town of Huntington’s records from initial creation to final disposition, in addition to the Archives, which stores the Town’s historical records. As Records Management Officer, the Town Clerk maintains jurisdiction of the Records Center and Archives, and oversees the Town’s Records Management Program.

An Outreach Program has been established that the State uses as a model and the “Guide to the Archival Records and Manuscripts of the Town of Huntington” is used in the workshops given by the State Archives. The Outreach Program is continually expanding and from June 2011 through May 2012, approximately 100 individuals visited the Archives for research, presentations, and tours. E-mail and telephone inquiries regarding research amounted to 480. The Town Clerk’s Archives displays several exhibits annually and has motivated residents to contact our office to display their private collections. 
In addition to these exhibits, the Archives participate in many historical events throughout the Town, in conjunction with the Town Historian and local historical organizations, such as Women’s History Month. 
The Records Center stores, retrieves and disposes of all Town Departments’ inactive records on a continuing basis.

Legal Authority