LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — Lee County is expanding resources in Lehigh Acres with a new Clerk of Courts office at the East Lee Government Center on Homestead Road, joining several other important county services to better serve the growing community.
"The whole point of this satellite office is to make sure that it's close and convenient to you that if you can do it online we want you to, but if you need a little bit of help or you have to come in person, you don't have to travel too far to get there," Lee County Clerk of Courts Kevin Karnes said.
Watch Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:
Currently, people can only access Clerk of Courts services in downtown Fort Myers and Cape Coral. The new 6,200-square-foot space will be divided between court-related needs and records services, for example marriage licenses and passports.
The office will join existing services at the center, including the Lee County Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections, and the Department of Health.
For people who live in Lehigh Acres like Bruno Sales, the expanded services will make a significant difference.
"Well, it's gonna help your life. You know you can come here earlier. If you have to work, you can solve your things like early," Sales said, who visited the center to update his license.
Sales emphasized the time-saving benefits for the community.
"Very important to every community to have resources like this because Lehigh it's big and you have people going to live really far from Fort Myers. It's gonna be really important they have access to this," Sales said.
Karnes expects the new office will serve up to 15% of the county's customers once the Alico Connector is completed, providing closer options for anyone who lives in Bonita Springs and Estero as well.
"Lehigh is one of the fastest growing areas not just in Lee County but in Southwest Florida, so it's important that we invest in that area of the county but this is not just important for East Lee County. It's also important for the south of the county," Karnes said.
If everything proceeds according to plan, the new Clerk of Courts office is expected to open in Lehigh Acres by the end of next summer or fall.
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