Today

Legal Department

The Allen County Clerk of Courts serves the Common Pleas Court and the Third District Court of Appeals when Allen County cases are involved. The Clerk is elected on a party ballot for a four-year term at the same time the county treasurer, sheriff and prosecuting attorney are selected. The Clerk administers the oath to juries, endorses the time of filing on all pleading papers, enters all orders, decrees, judgments and proceedings of the courts.

The Clerk of Courts plays a vital role in serving the interests of justice. This includes filing, docketing, indexing and preserving all court pleadings for civil, felony criminal and domestic relations cases. The Clerk of Courts must also follow procedure required by law and issue writs to carry out Court orders. Some of these writs include summons, subpoenas, warrants to arrest and to convey to penal institutions, and signing the death warrant in capital cases.

In addition to processing all Court paperwork, the Clerk of Courts must preserve all of these records for use by future generations.