October 31st, 2025

Linn County Clerk Marcie Richey, a 32-year employee of the clerk’s office., says the work spaces and ballot flow are more efficient in the new office on Water Avenue.

Linn County Clerk's Office ​has a new home 

Billie Jo Cruzan removes ballots from envelopes after running them through an extractor.

 The Linn County Clerk’s Office, which oversees elections, was a fixture on the second floor of the courthouse for more than 80 years. That changed Aug. 29 when it was moved into the first floor of the Wheelhouse Building at 421 Water Ave. N.E. in Albany.
  Staff and part-time election workers are busy processing ballots for first election in their new digs: the Linn County Law Enforcement Local Option Levy. (Ballots are due by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.)
  The Linn County commissioners gave County Clerk Marcie Richey the green light to design election work spaces on the west side of the office. It has made for more efficient flow of ballots through all the processing stages, she says. “It flows in one smooth movement.”
  “I love it,” adds Deputy Clerk Derrick Sterling, “I just give nothing but kudos to Marcie for the design of it”
  Billie Jo Cruzan, one of the longtime election workers, agrees, describing the flow of the ballots and the building’s security as “top notch.”
  Add to that a great view. Just north of where workers were unfolding and inspecting ballots on Oct. 28 are the Dave Clark Riverfront Trail and Willamette River.
  The Wheelhouse Building, on the site of the former Buzz Saw Restaurant, was built in 2010 and purchased by the Linn County in 2023 to free up needed space at the courthouse. (The county surveyor’s office will eventually occupy the former clerk’s office and the district attorney’s offices will be expanded on the first floor of the courthouse.)
  County health administrative offices are now on the second floor of the Wheelhouse Building. The third floor is rented to a private company. Temporary district attorney offices on the fourth floor will eventually become the county counsel and property management offices.
  ​On the east side of the first floor is public access to the clerk’s office, which also handles marriage license applications and the recording of deeds and mortgages.

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There’s a new ballot drop box adjacent to the Linn County Clerk’s Office in the Wheelhouse Building on Water Avenue.

Election workers unfold and inspect ballots for the Linn County Law Enforcement Local Option Levy.

​Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
    The elections and marriage license phone number is 541-967-3831. The number for recording is 541-967-3829.
  There’s also a new ballot drop box in the Wheelhouse’s parking lot. And voters can still place their ballots in the dropbox behind the courthouse in the driveway off Fifth Avenue.​