Lynn Marie Goya – Clark County Clerk

Lynn Marie Goya was elected as the Clark County Clerk and has been serving since January 2015. Clark County, which contains the famous Las Vegas Strip, issues approximately 80,000 marriage licenses per year to couples from over 160 countries around the world. The local wedding industry generates over 18,000 jobs and contributes over $2.5 billion in annual economic activity. When Goya discovered a 37 percent decrease in wedding tourism, she immediately took action, working with the legislature to create a special wedding promotion fund that generates over $1 million per year. She created a public/private partnership with the wedding industry that evolved into the Las Vegas Wedding Chamber of Commerce and works closely with Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority (LVCVA), Travel Nevada and Brand USA.

Prior to being elected, Goya was a freelance journalist who wrote for local, regional and national publications including USA Today, Audubon and the Boston Globe. She is an award-winning playwright, an Emmy-nominated writer, received the Frederick L. Ryan Award for Economics; the JCPenny Golden Rule Award for community leadership and the EMERGE Nevada 2016 Alumni of the Year.

Achievements and Initiatives:
Implemented a secure online and in-person credit card processing service to reduce cash intake and allow the department to collect online order requests 24/7;
• Created a simplified website for couples, MLIC.VEGAS, with a QR code that chapels and wedding planners can use on their literature to direct customers to our mobile-friendly application. Now, 100 percent of the couples use the online application, which reduces wait time for couples and printing costs for the department;
• Worked with the legislature to provide much-needed technology funds to all Nevada county clerks;
• Developing a strategy to balance privacy of personal information with public access to information;
• Implemented a strategy to protect digitally archived permanent public records to secure and protect them from potential data loss or ransomware threats;
• Digitizing county permanent public records that date back to 1909 and creating a transparent public search;
• Overhauled the marriage officiant application process and implemented a mandatory training program to ensure officiants understood their rights and responsibilities to the state;
• Streamlined the certificate filing process saving hundreds of hours of staff time;
• Reorganized the Clerk’s Office management team and created a new system for employee review and training;
• Created an online scheduler for civil marriage ceremony and passport acceptance appointments.

Awards and Recognition:
• NACo 2018 Achievement Award for revising the marriage officiant application process
• 2016 NACRC Best Practices Award
• NACo 2016 Achievement Award for “Low-Cost Tech Innovations Save Time and Money for County Clerk”
• Women of Distinction Award for Corporate and Government Services from the National Association of Women Business Owners of Southern Nevada.