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A court clerk (British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 clerk to the court; American English
American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
 clerk of the court or clerk of court) is an officer of the court
Officer of the court

The generic term officer of the court applies to all those who, in some degree in function of their professional or similar qualifications, have a legal part?and hence legal and deontology obligations?in the complex functioning of the judicial system as a whole, in order to forge justice out of the application of the law and the simultaneous...
 whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court
Court

A court is a body, often a government institution, with the authority to adjudication legal disputes and dispense private law, criminal justice, or administrative law justice in accordance with rules of law....
. Another duty is to administer oath
Oath

An oath is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact....
s to witness
Witness

A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event through their senses , and can help certify important considerations to the crime or event....
es, jurors
Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render a rationalism, impartiality verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence or judgment....
, and grand jurors
Grand jury

In the common law, a grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether there is enough evidence for a Criminal procedure. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a prosecutor and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing Wiktionary:presentments....
. Traditionally, the clerk also was the custodian of the court's seal
Seal (device)

A seal can mean a wax seal bearing an impressed figure, or an embossed figure in paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document, but the term can also mean any device for making such impressions or embossments, essentially being a Molding that has the mirror image of the figure in counter-relief, such as mounted on rings known a...
, which is used to authenticate copies of the court's order
Court order

A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a Hearing , a lawsuit, an appeal or other court proceedings....
s, judgments and other records.

In common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s, the existence of the office of a clerk is one of the typical criteria distinguishing a court of record
Court of record

In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a judicial tribunal having attributes and exercising functions independently of the person of the magistrate designated generally to hold it, and proceeding according to the course of common law, its acts and proceedings being enrolled for a perpetual memorial....
.

He may be more precisely titled after the (type of) court, e.g.






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A court clerk (British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 clerk to the court; American English
American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
 clerk of the court or clerk of court) is an officer of the court
Officer of the court

The generic term officer of the court applies to all those who, in some degree in function of their professional or similar qualifications, have a legal part?and hence legal and deontology obligations?in the complex functioning of the judicial system as a whole, in order to forge justice out of the application of the law and the simultaneous...
 whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court
Court

A court is a body, often a government institution, with the authority to adjudication legal disputes and dispense private law, criminal justice, or administrative law justice in accordance with rules of law....
. Another duty is to administer oath
Oath

An oath is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact....
s to witness
Witness

A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event through their senses , and can help certify important considerations to the crime or event....
es, jurors
Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render a rationalism, impartiality verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence or judgment....
, and grand jurors
Grand jury

In the common law, a grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether there is enough evidence for a Criminal procedure. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a prosecutor and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing Wiktionary:presentments....
. Traditionally, the clerk also was the custodian of the court's seal
Seal (device)

A seal can mean a wax seal bearing an impressed figure, or an embossed figure in paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document, but the term can also mean any device for making such impressions or embossments, essentially being a Molding that has the mirror image of the figure in counter-relief, such as mounted on rings known a...
, which is used to authenticate copies of the court's order
Court order

A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a Hearing , a lawsuit, an appeal or other court proceedings....
s, judgments and other records.

In common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s, the existence of the office of a clerk is one of the typical criteria distinguishing a court of record
Court of record

In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a judicial tribunal having attributes and exercising functions independently of the person of the magistrate designated generally to hold it, and proceeding according to the course of common law, its acts and proceedings being enrolled for a perpetual memorial....
.

He may be more precisely titled after the (type of) court, e.g. clerk of the peace
Clerk of the Peace

A Clerk of the Peace was a United Kingdom office whose responsibility was the records of the Quarter Sessions and the framing of presentments and indictments....
 attending to a justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace

A Justice of the Peace is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a letters patent to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice and deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions....
, clerk of the police court, etc. On Guernsey, the medieval French term Grieffe is used (in the magistrate's court).

In some jurisdictions, the court clerk is the one who reads the jury's verdict
Verdict

In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge....
 form to the court. In Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
, the clerk of circuit court may officiate civil weddings.

In courts without a clerk, or if there is no specific officer otherwise available, the judge may have authority to act as clerk of the court, as sometimes in a short-staffed probate court.

In the United States federal courts
United States federal courts

The United States federal courts comprises the Judiciary of government organized under the United States Constitution and Law of the United States of the federal government of the United States....
, each district court
United States district court

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both Civil law and Criminal law cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, Equity , and admiralty....
, court of appeals
United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate Court of Appealss of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the United States district courts within its United States federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agency....
, and bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy court

United States bankruptcy courts are United States federal courts that have subject-matter jurisdiction over Bankruptcy in the United States. Bankruptcy cases cannot be filed in state court....
, as well as the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
, has its own clerk, appointed by the judges of the court. The clerk is the custodian of the court's records and also has responsibility for collecting fees and other deposits of money made with the court. The court clerk is not to be confused with the law clerk
Law clerk

A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in Legal research issues before the court and in writing Legal opinion....
 who assists the judge
Judge

A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
 in making legal determinations. And in the courts within the City of New York, the Court Clerk, who is a Peace Officer, is the highest ranking, non-judicial person in the courtroom. The Court Clerk is the supervisor of the Court Officers in the Courtroom.

In an English Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court

A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of Courts of England and Wales in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions....
, where the judges will usually have no legal qualifications, the Court Clerk will be legally qualified. The magistrates decide on the facts at issue; the clerk advises them on the law relating to the case.