About the District Clerk

The office of district clerk is created by the Texas Constitution, Article V, Section 9. The district clerk is an elected official whose term of office is four years. Duties of the district clerk in each county revolve around the district court. Specific statutory responsibilities are arranged in the following four categories: administrative, recordkeeping, finance, and miscellaneous.

The primary role of the District Clerk's Office is to support the district court system. The district clerk is the official recorder, registrar and custodian of all court pleadings, instruments and papers that are part of any district court case. Other duties include indexing and securing all court records, recording all court verdicts, collecting filing fees, and handling funds held in litigation and money awarded to minors. Additional responsibilities include maintaining a list of court fines and jury fees.

The district clerk is the officer of the court in charge of the jury selection process and acts as a liaison between the jurors, courts and employers. This responsibility includes summoning, selecting, swearing and impaneling both petit and grand juries for district courts.

A significant number of miscellaneous duties are assigned to this office. These include accepting passport applications in counties with no local passport agency, taking depositions of witnesses, and administering oaths and affirmations.