How To Become A Court Clerk: What It Is and Career Path

What is a court clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

It is the duty of a court clerk to carry out the administrative tasks and assist other officers in a justice system. You are to keep and maintain court records, administer oaths, as well as validate copies of the court's orders. It is your responsibility to prepare meeting agendas and to issue permits. Court clerks also perform accounting and bookkeeping tasks in addition to the office tasks they perform. You will also draft bylaws for town councils and record license requests of the county or other agencies.

A degree in criminal justice or any related field is required for this role. Applicants with legal experience, management, human resources, or an accounting background are typically preferred for this position. You should have good communication, organizational, time management, and multitasking skills, as well as good human relations skills. Annually, the average salary of a court clerk is $41,193.

ScoreCourt ClerkUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,328

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.19%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 10.76%

Hispanic or Latino 20.29%

Unknown 4.41%

White 59.28%

Gender

female 82.96%

male 17.04%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress Level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.3

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.7

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a court clerk

Explore court clerk education requirements

Most common court clerk degrees

Bachelor's

38.9 %

Associate

27.7 %

High School Diploma

18.4 %

Start to develop specific court clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	10.46%
Customer Service	9.36%
Subpoenas	5.45%
Court Dates	4.93%
Bench Warrants	4.29%

Complete relevant court clerk training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New court clerks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a court clerk based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real court clerk resumes.

Research court clerk duties and responsibilities

Manage operations and LAN, plus data interchange with other agencies.
Receive and record payments of fees or fines, process notary commissions, order files and purge old files for achieves.
Answer public inquiries in terms of judicial proceedings, trial dates and witness fees along with preparing probation orders and summonses.
Maintain report for NCIC reports.

Prepare your court clerk resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your court clerk resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a court clerk resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Court Clerk Resume templates

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Apply for court clerk jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a court clerk job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

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