Talk:Court clerk

What on earth is "French English"? Francis Davey 22:25, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Removed false statement 3/14/08

I removed the statement "No judgment of a U.S. court is effective until it is signed by the clerk and entered on the clerk's records.", because it is incorrect. Being a legal secretary and having been involved in legal proceedings myself, I can tell you that this is not true at all.

I had my name legally changed on March 2, 2006. Once the judge signed the order, it was official. I obtained a certified copy immediately after the signing, which I used to apply for a new social security card, driver license, etc. The order was not officially "recorded" until the following day. Therefore, the original document (which is on file with the clerk of courts) states on the bottom that it was recorded on March 3, even though the judgment was entered into on March 2. Regardless of the date it was entered on the clerk's records, the order itself was in full effect on March 2, prior to its recording. Furthermore, the original document does not include the clerk's signature. Only certified copies of the document will include the deputy clerk's signature, and only then on the actual certification itself (i.e. "This is to certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the original record in my office. Signed --, for Clerk of Courts").

Rhythmnation2004 (talk) 16:53, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Needs further clarification

The above comment about a judgment becoming effective upon signing or recording is really a matter of location.

Are we totally sure that the U.S. District courts do not require this procedure? Federal courts could have different requirements.

I know that in North Carolina, all orders of the District and Superior Courts are certified under the seal of the court. This seal is maintained by the 100 elected Superior Court Clerks and his/her assistants and deputies. Technically, in order to enforce any order, the clerk must certify a judge's signature with said seal. In order to do this, the order must be filed. Also, certain judgments may only be enforced by execution of the Clerk (such as Writs of Execution, Writs of Possession, etc.). Also, most agencies that I am aware of would require some sort of certification to do something like a name change. A simple signature court be forged or altered by anyone.

I will not change the article, but I think some input from other State and Federal court officials would be helpful. I'll be glad to fill in NC's part if that section begins building itself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.250.163.167 (talk) 04:56, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

Stubbing

I'm stubbing this article. It has almost no sources and just reeks of original research. Kevin (aka L235 · t · c) 23:38, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

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Deputy clerks

In US federal courts at least, the clerk is a manager; the actual day-to-day administrative work is performed by subordinate deputy clerks; if the court is big enough, the deputy clerks may report to a chief deputy clerk. These officials need not be legally trained, whereas the clerk of the court normally must be. I don't know where to find a source for this (my source is personal knowledge). 2603:400A:0:7EC:0:0:801E:1C14 (talk) 22:31, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

NPOV cleanup, February 2026

Two fixes:

• Neutralized State courts section: replaced editorial language ("sleepy rural counties", "rudimentary legal systems", "no longer made quite as much sense") with factual, encyclopedic phrasing. All citations and factual content preserved. This addresses some of the OR concerns noted by L235 in the 2016 stubbing discussion.
• Removed deprecated inline interlanguage link ([[de:Geschäftsstelle#Urkundsbeamter der Geschäftsstelle]]); Wikidata handles interlanguage links.

No sources, categories, or other content changed.

Path to C-class

The article is currently Start-class. To reach C, it would benefit from:

• International coverage — no mention of court clerks outside the UK and US (e.g. Canada, Australia, civil law jurisdictions such as France/Germany where the Geschäftsstelle plays a comparable role)
• History section — origins of the clerk role in English common law, medieval chancery clerks, evolution of the office
• Duties expansion — the current lead describes duties well but the body sections focus on organizational structure rather than what clerks actually do day-to-day; the 2025 deputy clerks discussion raised this gap
• Additional sourcing — State courts section relies on two court cases; secondary sources on the evolution of court administration (e.g. Aikman's Art and Practice of Court Administration, already cited in the lead) could strengthen the body
• Notable court clerks — a brief "See also" or mention of notable holders of the office (historical or current)

Sparks19923 (talk) 08:59, 13 February 2026 (UTC)