The office of the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas traces its origin to the medieval cleric. They maintained the records, were responsible for correspondence and had various powers to issue writs or other processes ordered by the Court. The cleric was generally one of the few educated persons in the community.

In creating a state judicial system, the 1802 Ohio Constitution provided for the appointment of a Clerk of Courts for each county. The judges of the Common Pleas Court made the appointments for a seven-year term.

Under the 1851 Constitution the office became elective for a three-year term, which was extended to four years in 1936.

The official title is Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, but most often the officeholder is referred to as the Clerk of Courts.

Many prominent Ohioans have served as Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. For example, William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, was a Clerk of Courts when he was elected President in 1840.

The duties mandated by the statutes of the Ohio Revised Code have grown tremendously over the years. The responsibilities of the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas are now set forth in over 250 sections of the Ohio Revised Code.

"Core of the Court"

The Clerk of Courts office, as the "core of the Court", plays a vital role in serving the interests of justice. This includes filing, docketing, indexing and preserving all court pleadings for civil, felony criminal and domestic relations cases.

The Clerk of Courts must also follow procedure required by law and issue writs to carry out Court orders. Some of these writs include summons, subpoenas, warrants to arrest and to convey to penal institutions, and signing the death warrant in capital cases.

In addition to processing all Court paperwork, the Clerk of Courts must preserve all of these records for use by future generations. Archival quality retention must be used to permanently preserve the Court records.

One of the largest revenue sources for the State of Ohio is the 88 Clerks of the Court of Common Pleas. Annually, the fees and taxes disbursed to the State by the Clerk of Courts' legal and title offices near or exceed one billion dollars.

The Automobile and Watercraft Title Division of the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas is linked throughout the State of Ohio by a sophisticated computer network. This Automated Title Processing System (ATPS) provides fast, efficient issuance of approximately 4.5 million Ohio titles annually.

In addition to collecting the $800,000,000+ sales and use taxes for the purchase of automobiles, the Clerk of Courts is responsible for collecting all revenue relating to court costs, bonds, fines and forfeitures. Clerks of the Court of Common Pleas are responsible for receiving and disbursing millions of other dollars which are directed to various accounts of the county and state. The Clerk must invest undisbursed funds, which generate interest revenue for the county general fund, and is a significant source of that fund's revenue.

The Clerk of Courts also:

accepts bonds
calls juries
records notary commissions
administers oaths
keeps naturalization records
issues duplicate fishing licenses
issues duplicate hunting licenses
serves as a member of the County Data Processing Board, Records
Commission and Microfilm Board.