Effective Friday, the Carbon County Prothonotary’s Office will suspend all passport services.

This is due to the courthouse renovations and the relocation of the office. In addition, due to the rising caseload of civil filings in the office and the demand on the office by the courts the office is left with no choice but to suspend all elective services provided by the office until further notice. This includes the processing of new passport applications, renewal passport applications and passport photo services.

“It is with much regret that I inform our constituents that effective next week we are forced to suspend all passport related services. The suspension is two-fold, one: due to the renovations and temporary relocation of our office and two: because we do not have the staff needed to support elective services,” Prothonotary Kayla Semmel said. “I was hopeful with a new board of commissioners in 2024 and the current board being apprised of the dire need for help in our office that they would heed my pleas for assistance so that this office can continue to run efficiently and effectively. As a result of a recent meeting where I was told by the board that it could potentially be months until they would ‘entertain’ a motion for establishing a new full-time position, I am left with no choice but to suspend all non-court related services.

“The duty of my office statutorily is to process all civil filing for the county. Our case load continues to grow each year with some case types more than doubling and the work to staff ratio in this county is significantly off and needs to be addressed. We are one of the busiest county offices with one of the smallest staffs. I commend my staff because they are some of the most hardworking individuals and without their support the past 4 years, I have no doubt that this office would be experiencing a huge backlog. It is only because of them and their dedication to this county that we have been able to provide these elective services as long as we have.”

For those that may be in need of Passport Services you will now have to travel to neighboring counties such as Luzerne or Lehigh County.

If you have any questions or concerns you may also reach the prothonotary at ksemmel@carboncourts.com.