Clerk of the Court

Clerk of the Court in United States

Practical Information

Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982

The official recorder of all court business. He or she receives all court papers such as complaints, answers, amendments, motions, and appearances, assigning them numbers according to what is known as the clerk’s index system.

Index System

The method by which the Clerk of the Court receives and records all court papers such as complaints, answers, amendments, motions, and appearances. (See Permanent Record Book, below.) As soon as the summons and complaint, or other first pleading is filed, the clerk assigns an index number, also called a docket number, and an action number, to the case. The numbers are consecutive. In some courts, an initial is used to indicate the court in which the case is filed. For example, S for Superior, C for Circuit, P for Probate. In courts that have separate law and equity (in U.S. law) divisions, the letter L or the letter E will be a part of the index number. The clerk keeps a cross-index of the cases, arranged alphabetically according to the name of the plaintiff, and also, in some courts, a cross-index according to the name of the defendant.

Minute Books

The books in which the Clerk of the Court enters abstracts of all court orders. The clerk does this numerically according to index number. There might be separate books for law, chancery, divorce, and the like.

Permanent Record Book

The standing register, kept by the Clerk of the Court, of all records of legal papers filed in a particular case. The cases are entered consecutively according to index number, a case to a page. The permanent record book may be called also the docket or register. The clerk enters on the docket sheet the index number, the title of the case, the names and addresses of the attorneys, and the date the summons (in U.S. law) was served. The clerk also enters on the docket sheet all subsequent proceedings.

(Revised by Ann De Vries)

What is Clerk Of The Court?

For a meaning of it, read Clerk Of The Court in the Legal Dictionary here. Browse and search more U.S. and international free legal definitions and legal terms related to Clerk Of The Court.

Meaning of Clerk of the Court

In plain or simple terms, Clerk of the Court means: Court official who keeps court record, files pleadings, motions, and judgment, and administers the oath to juror and witnesses.


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