Order in the Courts: A History of the Federal Court Clerk's Office

• NCJ Number: 196380
• Author(s): I. Scott Messinger
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 84 pages
• Corporate Author: Federal Judicial Ctr
• Sale Source: Federal Judicial Ctr
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book examines the history of the clerks of the Federal courts and their historical role in judicial administration.

Abstract

By the last decade of the 18th century, Congress had created the office of Federal court clerk. Before that the office that was most similar to the clerks of the court was the prothonotary, whose functions were to enter records on plea rolls and issue judicial writs of process in actions at law. Colonial clerks had additional functions, such as administering oaths to jurors and witnesses and taking juries’ verdicts in open court. Foremost among the non-statutory duties of the clerks was the collection of fees from litigants for the services provided by the Federal courts. Congress approved this compensation scheme by not making an appropriation for the clerks and regulating the amount that they could charge for services. Clerks were subordinate to the judges that appointed them, and those judges could overrule the clerks’ decisions. The centralization of operations and the regulation of conduct of the Federal Government’s officers in the middle of the 19th century transformed the clerks’ relationship to the government. Three legislative initiatives effected this transformation: (1) requiring clerks to submit regular reports of their fees; (2) limiting the total amount of fees each clerk was allowed to retain; and (3) establishing a uniform fee schedule. By 1919, clerks were supporting a reform eliminating the fee-based compensation scheme and replacing it with a government salary for each clerk of the court. The Salary Act of 1919 subjected the appointment of district court clerks to the approval of the senior circuit judge for the circuit in which the district was situated. The concept of “court executives” was introduced in the late 1960's but rejected by clerks who wanted to maintain their traditional role as the chief regional administrators of the Federal judicial system. Presently, clerks are assisted by computers and other technological innovations to help them meet the demands of the late-20th century litigation explosion. 166 footnotes