El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker Visits RSF, Discusses County Operations and Challenges
July 25, 2025
On July 23, 2025, Steve Schleiker, the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder, visited the RSF to discuss the current state of county operations and the challenges faced by his office. During the meeting, Schleiker provided insights into various aspects of the county’s recording, vehicle, and election services.
Recording Fees and Revenue
Schleiker announced that the recording fee has increased from $15 for the first page plus $5 per additional page to a flat rate of $43 per document. This change has generated $2.3 million in revenue for El Paso County, with 6% going to the state and the remainder staying within the county. Schleiker anticipates a boom in the recording department over the next six months, driven by lower interest rates and increased refinancing activity.
Vehicle Fees and Kiosks
The county has collected $4.2 million from vehicle fees, but only 4% remains locally, with the rest going to Denver. Schleiker emphasized the need for more money to stay within the county, which would require action from legislators. The legislators will be meeting in special session in September. Schleiker is concered that they might try to make up the budget delta by doubling recording fees.
Military personnel currently cannot use motor vehicle kiosks because the kiosks cannot exempt ownership tax. The county is working with the vendor to update the system. El Paso County issues more licenses than state offices because it does not require appointments.
Elections and Voter Registration
As of Monday, El Paso County has more than 511,000 registered voters. The motor voter system automatically registers individuals as unaffiliated, but Schleiker suggested that if a person cannot pick a party at the DMV, they should be entered into the system as pending and allowed to complete the process later. This would reduce confusion and ensure that those who remain pending do not receive a ballot. He plans to propose this change during the next legislative session.
The county is redistributing precincts in Banning Lewis Ranch and Falcon to reduce the number of voters per precinct to 2,500, splitting 10 precincts. This change will be implemented this year to allow time for caucus and assembly. Any precinct with nine or fewer voters has been combined, and affected voters will be notified of the precinct change by postcard.
The Palmer Lake recall election is currently in flux because the town did not want to hold the election in November.
The county’s election department has handled 65,000 phone calls with an average wait time of 3 minutes and 34 seconds. The customer satisfaction rating is 96% based on a resident survey.
Property Fraud Prevention and Election Security
El Paso County is about to implement a property fraud prevention system to combat quick claim deeds used to fraudulently take ownership of properties. The system will notify homeowners of any filings against their property, and setting up an account for notifications will be free for everyone. The program is expected to be up and running by the end of August and is funded by a state grant. Scammers typically do not want ownership but rather aim to take out loans on the properties.
Schleiker also discussed the county’s efforts to improve election security and the efficiency of vehicle services. El Paso County has brought in over $107 million in revenue but needs to keep more of the money locally. Unlike other Colorado counties, El Paso County is not funding illegal migration, resulting in a very different budget. The county does a lot with less, as the elections department has only nine people compared to Denver’s 35, despite serving a larger population.
Opting Out of the Colorado Primary
Schleiker addressed the confusion surrounding opting out of the Colorado primary and provided a handout on the topic. Kent Thiry funded Proposition 108 to eliminate the closed primary. If the Republicans decide to opt-out, the Clerk and Recorder will not be able to assist with party primaries. The total cost for an election in El Paso County is over $1 million, and this issue has been ongoing for nearly 10 years. One of the risks of opting out is that the unaffiliated voters (UAF) will receive the Democratic ballot and will likely remember their choice in the November election. In El Paso County, 60-65% of UAF choose the Republican ballot during a primary. If the Republican party votes to opt-out they cannot use the county’s infrastructure for party primaries. Statewide, the cost could well exceed $60 million for the Republicans to run their own primary. With a population of over 760,000, El Paso County is growing to 333 precincts, making elections costly and litigious. It was later discussed that the opt-out would mean running the primary during an assembly with only delegate voting. This would be disenfranchising all Republicans in the state.
Arapahoe County Election Issues
Schleiker was asked about the recent discovery with the cast vote records discovered by Ed Solomon. Schleiker mentioned that county clerks have discussed this issue with Arapahoe County and Ed Solomon, and he plans to meet with Heidi soon to further address the matter.