In this guide, we will explain to you what the Clerk of Courts is, what they are responsible for the day-to-day operations, and why the clerk of courts is important to the public records industry.
County clerks are responsible for handling court records from actual courts that happen across the United States. Because of this, the clerk of courts plays a large role in the data we see when searching public records.
What Are Clerk of Courts?
The court clerks are an administrative job that handles clerical operations and functions that are related to the courts.
There are many tasks involved with being a court clerk and the clerk needs be someone that is self-motivated, organized, and skilled at running the day to day admin services smoothly. Do not confuse the court clerk with a court reporter, they are completely different.
Entry-level court clerk jobs in most cases only require a high school diploma, but this will depend on the court.
Some courts may require degrees in administration, law, or business. And once hired, you may have to keep getting requirements depending on what court you employed at.
Administration Duties
Like we said above, a major part of the court clerk’s job description is handing of public records. This is some of the duties that a courts clerk’s job would include:
- Schedule cases
- Schedule hearings
- Process Legal Documents
- Audit files for accuracy
- Prepare files for off-site storage
- Handles payment for fees
- Deals with the public looking for public records
In-Trial Responsibilities
When an actual trial is happening the court of clerk will take on other duties pertaining to the court. Those such duties and responsibilities may be the following:
- Assemble subpoenas
- Judicial orders
- injunctions
- Judgment
- writs
County Clerks will also make sure that motions and laws suits that are submitted to the courts are accurate.
The clerks of courts will also handle scheduled dockets on cases and then record all of the information from the case once complete.
These are the records that the public may eventually gain access to as public records, criminal, court, arrest, and more.
The clerk of courts is responsible for keeping track of a lot of records. Among the records above county clerks typically will file birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates.
Depending on what office the clerk is working they may also be responsible for providing passport applications and property deeds, and also give licenses for business owners.
Searching Case Records By Contacting The County Clerks
Because the courts have digital means of searching for county case records you could probably find these records by accessing them directly online from the county website.
Here is how you can find this types of records online.
Open up Google web browser and type in this following search string:
“Broward county clerk of the court’s records”
Just change the county to the county you want to search. This should bring you to the official county website where you can search and find county record data.
Do keep in mind that some websites in smaller areas may not have online search capabilities.
If this is the case, call the clerk of courts and ask them if you can come in to search records manually. Most have that ability and will explain what you would need to bring and what times you can search records.
The Important Role of the Clerks
Clerk of Courts has a vital role in keeping the court system running smooth, it also plays a pivotal role in letting the public be able to search for public records.
These records are important to millions of people who need to find public data on someone to make an informative decision, keep themselves safe, keep their family safe, and much more.
