Salary of a court clerk: Court Clerk Salary | Salary.com

How To Become A Court Clerk: Career And Salary Information

Court clerks perform administrative duties in the criminal and civil justice systems, assisting other officers of the court as well as judges and lawyers. A court clerk might work in a district court, a court of appeals, a bankruptcy court, or the Supreme Court. They maintain court records, administer oaths to witnesses and jurors, and authenticate copies of the court’s orders and judgments with the court’s seal. This guide provides further information on what court clerks do, how to become one, and the occupation’s salary and outlook. Opportunities for growth exist laterally by applying to work with state or federal agencies, or by taking on supervisory responsibility. The largest employers of court clerks are municipalities but many court clerks are also employed at the state and federal levels.

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Career Description, Duties, and Common Tasks

Court clerks are either appointed to each court by the judge of that court or elected at the county or district level. To be considered a “court of record,” a court must have a court clerk. The clerk is responsible for the court’s money and record keeping, acting in effect as both the chief information officer (CIO) and the chief financial officer (CFO) of the court. Some court clerks also serve as jury commissioners or probate registrars. They typically work in courts or office buildings. Court clerks perform tasks similar to other administrative assistants, but do so on behalf of the legal system. A court clerk may:

• Complete office tasks as necessary
• Document the receipt of legal documents
• Keep records of court appearances
• Perform accounting and bookkeeping duties
• Prepare meeting agendas
• Record licensing requests of municipal, county, and other agencies
• Prepare draft agendas or bylaws for town or city councils
• Answer official correspondence
• Issue licenses or permits
• Collect fees
• Prepare dockets of cases to be called by a court
• Research and document information for judges

Court clerks manage budgets, analyze court financial data, and perform other administrative tasks. Court clerks may also manage other staff in larger courts. Court clerks are experts in project management, human resources compliance, negotiation, diplomacy, probate law, financial compliance, information systems, court procedures, jury management, and business management.

Steps for Becoming a Court Clerk

Court clerks do not necessarily need a specific degree, especially in smaller court systems, but many aspiring court clerks benefit from a certificate or associate’s degree program in administrative assisting and/or the criminal justice system. Coursework to prepare for this career typically includes Introduction to the Criminal Justice System, Court Processes, Business Administration, and Archival Systems. Some courts require only a high school diploma for an entry-level court clerk position, but others require an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree in business management, criminal justice, or a similar degree. Federal courts tend to require law degrees or master’s degrees.

Prospective court clerks with legal experience, an accounting background, and customer service skills will stand out above others. Internships as court clerks (either in conjunction with attending school or otherwise) will help people gain on-the-job experience, which can provide a competitive advantage when applying for available positions. To become a court clerk, you should:

1. Apply for an open position as a court clerk.
2. Undergo a background check.
3. Pass a drug test.
4. Be interviewed.
5. Get hired as a court clerk.
6. Get trained once hired as a court clerk.

Court Clerk Job Training

Whether court clerks start with an internship or pursue a degree, they also get on-the-job training once they are hired, usually as deputy clerks. As deputy clerks, workers learn a variety of administrative duties essential to the clerk of court position. As you gain experience, you may be given more responsibility and a higher pay rate. This may include promotion to positions such as court clerks and eventually, chief court clerk, with enough experience. While it is possible to gain enough experience working as a court clerk to move into a higher pay range, those with a degree in public administration, business administration, or criminal justice are usually promoted more quickly than those without a degree.

Other Helpful Skills and Experience

For people interested in becoming a court clerk, it is helpful to have experience in customer service, bookkeeping, and legal procedure. Candidates should have excellent accounting, budgeting, business management, and word processing skills. Court clerks with experience in human resources, benefits management, and/or financial compliance may have an advantage over others.

Possible Job Titles for This Career

• Clerk of the Court
• Clerk of Court
• Clerk of the Peace
• Clerk of the Police Court
• Circuit Court Clerk
• Court Clerk

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Explore program formats, transfer requirements, financial aid packages, and more by contacting the schools below.

Court Clerk Salary and Job Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average annual salary for court clerks was $41,100 as of 2017.¹ Clerks in state government tend to earn higher salaries, with a national average salary of around $44,550.¹ The profession is expected to grow an average rate through 2026, with a 6.4% rate of growth nationally.² Court clerks may not have much job growth due to the fact that there are not many new judicial openings, but there will be openings for replacements due to people leaving positions for retirement or other reasons. In such a competitive work environment, court clerks with degrees and applicable experience will likely be the most hireable.

Related Careers

If you are interested in a career as a court clerk, you may also be interested in learning more about the related careers below.

• Bailiff
• Correctional Case Manager
• Corrections Officer
• Parole Officer
• Police Officer
• Prison Guard
• Prison Warden

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the typical hours expected for a court clerk?

  Court clerks typically work around 40 hours a week during court hours. Most courts are open between the hours of 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Clerks might also work after hours to complete administrative tasks they did not complete during court hours.

• Is it worth it for me to pursue a degree in criminal justice or business administration if I want to be a court clerk?

  Yes. While many court clerk positions do not require a degree, having one makes you more marketable and hireable, especially in a tepid market with few court clerk jobs available overall.

Additional Resources

• Federal Court Clerks Association: A professional organization that promotes development and education opportunities to those who work for the federal court system.
• National Center for State Courts: A national organization that promotes education and research on judicial administration.
• National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks: A national organization offering educational opportunities, seminars, and a quarterly newsletter.

References:
1. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wages: Court, Municipal, and License Clerks: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes434031.htm
2. Projections Central: Long Term Occupational Projections (2016-2026): http://www.projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm

Court Clerk Salary for 2021-2022

Also known as: 
Circuit Court Clerk, City Clerk, Court Clerk, Courtroom Clerk, Deputy Court Clerk, Docket Clerk, Dog Licenser, License Clerk, Motor Vehicle License Clerk, Motor Vehicle Representative

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SALARIES FOR GOVERNMENT PROFESSIONALS

Court Clerks are professionals who manage and organize court records and documents. Although a college education may or may not be required in the position, it is necessary that office skills and some knowledge be attained before working in the position. Court Clerks will prepare court dockets and calendars, including probation orders, sentencing information and summons, as well as record case dispositions and court orders, make arrangements for court payments and fees and perform other administrative tasks. These tasks include answering telephones, maintaining the office and examining legal documents. Knowledge of the legal system is helpful.

A Court Clerk can expect a wage between $27,240 to $62,970 based on experience and education levels. will usually earn a wage of fourty-three thousand four hundred and ninety dollars per year.

can get the best compensation in New York, where they get an average salary rate of about $59,880. Professionals that work in these jobs make the highest salary in Finance and Insurance, where they can receive wages of $53,290.

The national wage distribution is shown below. To overlay local salaries for a Court Clerk, please select your state.

Choose StateAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirgin IslandsVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Court Clerks tend to make the most in the following
industries:

Finance and Insurance

$53,290

Wholesale Trade

$45,900

Public Administration

$43,660

Construction

$41,880

Educational Services

$40,560

Health Care and Social Assistance

$39,110

In general, they earn less within the industries below:

Administrative, Support and Waste Management Services

$30,870

Retail Trade

$35,360

Other Services (except Public Administration)

$35,960

Health Care and Social Assistance

$39,110

Educational Services

$40,560

Construction

$41,880

Salary of the secretary of the court session in 2019

According to statistics, every third citizen applies to the courts for his life. Not very comforting information, but, undoubtedly, it is better to resolve disagreements in a civilized way, as the ancient Greeks believed. The court is the provision and preservation of all the rights and freedoms of citizens, the resolution of controversial issues, the identification of inconsistencies between behavior and prescribed norms.

Of course, the work of judges is nervous, they take responsibility for their decisions, but they must be based on irrefutable evidence provided by the investigation. We will assume that this is what is happening, because we want to find out what the salary of the employees of this formidable but fair institution is.

Hierarchy

Oddly enough, the judiciary has a great variety of employees in different positions. First of all, the judges themselves are of interest, then their assistants. But there is also the position of court secretary, who writes and keeps the minutes of the meeting. What else is included in the duties, and what are the conditions for hiring them? It is also good to understand the prospects and the monetary equivalent of the salary.

One of the big news today is the government’s promise to raise wages for the judiciary. Whether this increase will affect all those working within the walls of the courts, or is it only for such a privileged caste as judges and their assistants, we will try to find out right now.

Those who are being pushed away in the matter of salaries are the judges themselves. They also work in the Constitutional, Supreme, Arbitration, District, and World Courts. A more global division can be made at the federal and regional levels. Accordingly, wages are paid from the federal budget or from the bins of each individual region. We also managed to find out the following rule, which is not particularly publicized: the salaries of all judges are interconnected by a certain percentage. In practice it looks like this:0003

• justices of the peace generally receive 50% of the salary, which is accrued by the federal;
• Federal court employees, in turn, receive 75% of the rate of the Chief Arbitrator;
• arbitration guardians of the implementation of laws, or rather, payment for their work, depend on the rate for constitutional judges.

Of course, the judges do not have a “bare” rate, but dressed up with additional payments, bonuses and bonuses for length of service, and for qualification levels. The assistants of these ministers of Themis depend on their superiors for payment. And the same percentage applies. So, the more qualified the judge is and the more he is charged, the more financially comfortable his assistant feels. By the way, a bill has already been passed that transferred assistants to a different status, that is, they ceased to be in the civil budgetary service. On this basis, it can be stated with confidence that in 2018 an increase in wages is also expected for them. But back to those who hold the position of secretary of each individual court session.

Profession as it is

The main duties of those who work as a court clerk can be expressed in just a couple of sentences. They must prepare all the necessary documentation, as well as organize and participate in court hearings. But general phrases do not at all reflect the entire amount of work that is performed by these employees.

See also: How much do university rectors earn? In fact, the clerk of the court session must prepare all the materials for each specific court, as well as ensure that all remarks, arguments, evidence and conclusions are recorded. You can more clearly define the scope of his powers and responsibilities:

• registration of court cases, in accordance with existing legislation;
• preparation of all materials for the court session;
• distribution of agendas to all who should participate in the meeting;
• participation in the meeting and recording of all data;
• transfer of all documents to the archive for storage.

Almost all applicants for this position are required to have a legal education. But what is more strange is that the salary of this employee does not yet exceed 25,000, and this is in the capital. With such complexity, responsibility and global workload, it is simply amazing who, having spent as many as 5-6 years in law academies, would want to take on such a front of work? By the way, when judges’ salaries are raised, this will have nothing to do with increasing payments from secretaries. Here is another injustice, in the context of the ongoing crisis within the country.

It is important for a court clerk to have the ability to quickly capture data, and also to be a confident user of certain computer programs. If a person stays in such a job for more than two years, he has a chance to become an assistant judge. They say that you can even become a judge yourself, but this can be seen closer to retirement age, with guaranteed health problems. Is it worth 25,000 per month? Everyone is free to decide for himself.

A bit of positive

The Stavropol Territory holds annual competitions to identify the best secretaries of court sessions and assistant judges. On a competitive basis, the most responsible employees of the Arbitration, world, garrison and district courts were first selected. The chairmen did it. In the second stage, the best assistant secretaries were chosen by a special commission. The tasks were selected in such a way as to test both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, training and orientation in the current legislation.

Having chosen the best, the regional chairman of the commission insisted that all employees who took part in the competition are high-level professionals. True, it was never said whether the winners’ salaries would increase, or whether the courts would limit themselves to letters and non-financial incentives.

“How can I get people interested if the salary of secretaries of a court session is 5,000 hryvnias?”

Judges and employees of the court staff have been supporting the work of the court for their own money for a long time.

Photo source: Judiciary/Building of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court

Head of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court Evgeny Romanchenko at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy on September 14, told the people’s deputies about the difficult financial and material situation in which the court headed by him found himself in 2022.

The fact is that the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court in 2021 became the leader among district administrative courts in terms of the number of claims filed with district administrative courts, although only 18 judges have powers in the court. In 2018-2022, the court received 167 thousand claims, a significant number of which are claims for the recalculation of pensions for citizens affected by the Chernobyl accident in 1986 year.

The problem is aggravated by the fact that in the Zhytomyr region, in order to receive the appropriate payments, citizens began to register en masse, who had never lived there before, but still seek to receive payments through the courts.

Due to the fact that the court does not always have time to consider these claims within the allotted time, the number of complaints against judges of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court is also growing, which was also noted by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy.

In such a situation and. about. the head of the court had to explain why the court did not fully cope with its duties.

There were many reasons – from a heavy workload on judges to inadequate material and technical support of the court.

Another reason for the negative trends in the activities of the court is the low wages of court staff and, accordingly, the low interest of many court staff in working under heavy workload.

“The last time our employees received a raise or bonus was in 2021. The average salary of a secretary of a court session is 5,000 hryvnia without additional payments and payments. The average salary in court is 8 thousand hryvnia. How do I get people interested in an overburdened environment that has been around for three years now?” – Evgeny Romanchenko noted at the meeting of Committee .