February 17, 2026
At the urgent request of our great Tama County Recorder Amelia Kemper, I am sharing this information due to a large increase in passport related scams affecting residents in Tama County.
The Recorder’s Office has recently had multiple individuals come in after paying third party websites for passport forms or services that were either unnecessary or not legitimate. In some cases, residents paid online before ever contacting the Recorder’s Office. One recent example involved a resident paying 125 dollars for a form that is available at no cost.
Passport application forms are free. The only official website for passport information is travel.state.gov.
If you are applying for a passport through the Tama County Recorder’s Office, there are only two legitimate payments. A processing fee is paid to the Recorder’s Office, and a separate payment is made to the United States Department of State. Both are handled through the Recorder’s Office during your appointment.
Residents should not be paying a website simply to download or access a passport form. If you have questions about the process, contact the Tama County Recorder’s Office before entering payment information online.
Casey Schmidt
Sheriff, Tama County
