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Office Located at
Hall of Justice
312 SW 1st Ave
2nd Floor Rm 233
Kelso, WA
98626
Tel: 360-577-3016
Toll Free Jury Line
1-866-577-3034 |
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Other Counties |
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The County
Clerk |
| The County Clerk is one of
several independent, elected officials provided by the
Washington State Constitution (Article IV, Sec 26), with
specific and special duties assigned by statute, as well as local
and state court rules. The position of County Clerk is best
characterized as the administrative and financial officer of the
Superior Court. The County Clerk's purpose is to ensure the
separation of powers among the three branches of government by
preserving the integrity of the judiciary. Those three branches
are Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. |
This purpose is accomplished in three ways:
- By being independent of the judicial branch,
the Clerk protects the judiciary from the appearance of
impropriety or unfairness in the setting of cases,
implementation of orders, or investment of funds.
- The Clerk is located in the Executive Branch
of government and provides the avenue for external oversight of
the judiciary without legislative or executive branch
interference with its actions, integrity or independence.
- As an independent elected official, the Clerk
preserves for the public un-restrained access to a fair,
accurate, and independently established record of the opinions,
decisions, and judgments of the court.
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Specific functions of the County Clerk include: |
Administrator of court records and
exhibits: The Clerk receives and processes all documents
presented in a Superior Court cause of action. The processing of
court documents involves record classification, assignment of
cause number, computerized docketing and manual filing of hard
copy records. The Clerk is responsible for seeing that these
records are maintained, retained and purged in accordance with
statutory time constraints and required archival standards.
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Financial Officer for the
Courts: As the court's agent, the Clerk collects
statutory fees, fines, trust and support funds; maintains a trust
account for monies received; disburses monies as ordered by the
court and further provides an investment plan for monies held. The
collection, accounting and investment of court monies is done to
ensure that the interests of the public and the county are
secured.
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Quasi-judicial Officer:
The Clerk serves a quasi-judicial function (to exercise discretion
of judicial nature) for the issuance of writs, letters
testamentary and other court related orders. In this function, the
Clerk must review court documents for possible errors, perform
acts required by law, issue letters testamentary, warrants of
arrest, orders of sale, writs of execution, garnishment,
attachments, restitution and set up judgments.
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Ex Officio Clerk of the
Court: Under the Constitution of the State of Washington,
the Clerk has the title of "ex officio clerk of the court." This
requires the Clerk's presence at all court sessions for the
purpose of establishing an independent record of each hearing
called "minutes" which are available to the public. The Clerk must
also be present at every court hearing or trial to receive and
keep a record of all exhibits (evidence) entered by the parties.
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Jury Management Officer:
In Cowlitz County, the Clerk's Office is responsible for the
management of the jury panel for both District and Superior
Courts. This requires over 15,000 summons to be sent out per year,
processed and maintained through a computer jury management
system.
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| Departmental Administrator:
As the administrator of a county department, the Clerk has the
responsibility to establish office policies and procedures,
oversee the budget and maintain the established guidelines and
policies of the Board of County Commissioners. Accuracy and
efficiency are critical in the Clerk's Office, as even the
slightest error or omission in marking evidence; indexing,
posting, or filing the 75,000 legal documents yearly; or error in
disbursing funds could affect the life or property of a private
citizen. |
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