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I'm doing candidate research for the local election at the end of the month. Where can I find general information about the role of the County Clerk of Court? What I know:

  • County Clerks do a lot of digital and analog paperwork.
  • County Clerks hire the clerks under them that work with judges.
  • County Clerks determine what hiring exams and qualifications these under-clerks must have.
  • 92% of the County Clerk's [of the county I live in] budget is payroll.
  • County Clerks can audit the courthouse's operations (evidence rooms, budget).
  • County Clerks have some control over the establishment and maintenance of satellite offices.

I'm interested in books, articles, and reference works dealing with the day-to-day workload of County Clerks of Court. I would be delighted to read biographies of exemplary clerks.

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I'm doing candidate research for the local election at the end of the month.

This answer is more than six years late for a timely response, but may be useful to others.

Q: Where can I find general information about the role of the County Clerk of Court?

Clerks of the circuit courts.—There shall be in each county a clerk of the circuit court who shall be selected pursuant to the provisions of Article VIII section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of the constitution, the duties of the clerk of the circuit court may be divided by special or general law between two officers, one serving as clerk of court and one serving as ex-officio clerk of the board of county commissioners, auditor, recorder, and custodian of all county funds. There may be a clerk of the county court if authorized by general or special law. [Article VIII, Section 1, Article V, Section 16, Florida Constitution]

The Joint Select Committee on Judicial Personnel of the Florida Legislature calculated that the Clerk & Comptroller's Office performs 926 different constitutional and statutory functions and duties (this number does not include responsibilities required by court rule and administrative order). The number of tasks continues to grow with changes in legislation, regulations and reporting requirements. [Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers]

I'm interested in books, articles, and reference works dealing with the day-to-day workload of County Clerks of Court.

Given that the ratio in population from the most (Miami-Dade) to the least populous (Liberty) counties is 337:1, it follows that the day-to-day workload will also vary as much. Circuit Court filings by county (FY 2019-2020) for Miami-Dade 635,243, for Liberty 954, or 666:1. Court filings are only one requirement of the position.

I would be delighted to read biographies of exemplary clerks.

I have not read The Clerk: My Thirty Six Years as Clerk of The Circuit Court and Comptroller of Holmes County, Florida by Cody Taylor, but note, from the table of contents, chapters on Clerk of the Circuit Court, County Auditor and Recorder, and Ceremonies.

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