If you're applying for/renewing a passport for someone 16 or under, it has be a government facility (other than in extraordinary circumstances) such as a Post Office, county government, the rare library, and some court houses. Lots of extra documents required as well (so glad my kid is now over 18 and we're done with that! )

We never had any problem with the PO staff, other than slow lines, but friends had a bad experience with trying to get their daughter's passport at a court house - the clerk wasn't familiar with the documents, and omitted some crucial step, resulting in a very long (months) delay.