Press Release July 31, 2008: Middlesex County Clerk Says Help is Available for Homeowners Facing Forclosure (Adobe PDF)
Click here for the County Clerk’s Land Records and Maps Search Web Site.
The Office of the
County Clerk, anciently known as "Keeper of the Records", is probably
one of the first and oldest offices in the State.
Offices and methods
in England were transplanted to this country at the time of its founding.
In 1677 it was agreed and ordained that there be kept a "Register at
London, within the Nation of England", and also another "Register within
the Province of West New Jersey", who kept exact entries and records
of all public affairs, land grants and leases. From this beginning sprang
the office of the County Clerk. After the organization of the State,
official sanction was given to the office, and the name "County Clerk"
was conferred upon the official in charge. The first reference to the
office under this title appears in the law passed on June 7, 1779. The
law, giving legal status to the office, was passed in 1806. The office
was provided for in the Constitution of 1844 and again in the most recent
Constitution of 1947. The County Clerk is therefore referred to as a
"Constitutional Officer". There is now a County Clerk elected in each
of the twenty-one counties. Each County Clerk is elected for a term
of five years. She must act in accordance with the statues set up for
her office by the State Legislature.
The duties of the
County Clerk are numerous. Her special responsibilities are, but not
limited to:
Swearing in and
Certifying Notaries; Filing of Trade Name Certificates; Recording documents
concerned with the purchase and sale of Real Estate; Filing of Military
Discharges; Filing of Sub-division
Maps, Tideland and Wetlands Riparian Aerial Photos; Issuance of Veterans
Peddlers Licenses; and Performance of Wedding Ceremonies.
The County Clerk
plays a key role in the conduct of elections. All petitions for candidates
for elective county offices are filed with her office and drawing for
ballot positions are conducted by the County Clerk. She is in charge
of printing of ballots. She canvasses the votes at primary and general
elections and certifies them to the Municipal Clerks and the New Jersey
Secretary of State. She also receives applications for and mails all
absentee ballots. She prints registry lists and distributes same in
accordance with the election laws.
She processes applications
for passports.
She appoints and
supervises Special Deputies and all other employees in the County Clerk's
Office.
The three Divisions
of the County Clerk's office are:
