The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1913-11-04
WHAT DOES THE
COUNTY CLERK DO (?
Has Bertrdm Mott Has Proved
Able and Efficient.

JuL cO1lIO1ltS Qlul Will lue Supicn
5olitical duty of the year.
While the contests for governor,
senator and assemblymen are raging,
under issues which may affect the
voters of the state in general, the
contest for the office of county clerk
should be given especial attention
and careful consideration by the
voters of every town, township and
borough Of Morris county, for the is
sues raised in the contest for this Of
flee are separate and distinct from
those raised in any of the other con-
tests in this general election.
The present incumbent of the Of
flee, Elias Bertram Mott, who is a
candidate for reelection, needs no
introduction-the voters of Morris
county placed him there five years
ago by splendid majority, after one
of the greatest political battles ever
fought in the county of Morris.
The principal issue in this contest
is efficiency. During Mr.. Motifs tern
in office many changes in the DAVIS of
the state such as the new practice
act of 1911, prescribing the practice
in the courts, and the Geran law of
regulating the conduct of elections,
have almost entirely changed the
routine and system of the office as
to these important functions. Mr.
Mott has not only met these require
ments and supervised the change fror
one system to another, but he has
inaugurated other systems for keep
ing the records and the safeguarding
of papers, so as to almost entirely
reorganize this important office in
the direction of greater efficiency.
In connection with these duties and
the many changed conditions brought
about by new laws during his term
there has never been a single COM
paaint, but there have been many
expressions of commentator and they
have come from men of every poll
tical faith.
AS this is a fitting time, when the
county clerk is to be elected, TO an
swer the question which has been
asked SO often "What does the
county clerk do?" we take this op-
portunity to give in detail some OF
the work connected with the county
clerks office so tildt the voter feels
when he is voting at this election he
is in a position to judge the kind oi
man he should vote for to fill this
important position.
To begin with, the county clerk is
clerk of the several courts of the
county of Morris, viz: the circuit
court. the court of common pleas,
court of oyer & terminer, the court
of quarter sessions, court of special
tff of
juvenile offenders. Either the clerk
himself or his deputy must attend in
person whenever one of these courts
is in session, he must keep the min
utes of the court, swear the jurles
and take verdicts, read each accusa-
ton to the defendants, take bail,
keep the record of the attendance OF
the grand and petit juries, tax the
costs in civil and criminal actions,
furnish copies of sentences to the
sheriff and state authorities, enter up
all judgments in the record books
and looks after a great many other
details connected with the courts,
such as issuing all subpoenas for the
attendance of witnesses, certifying on
same for witnesses fees, &C.
He must also see that the writs of
all kinds are properly issued and that
each paper and pleading, &C., is
what the law requires it to be be-
fore it is filed.
The county clerk also takes care OF
the naturalization cases and this is
a matter which demands much at
tention and a lot of detail work.
The county clerk of this county
must record or file every deed, mort
gage, assignment of mortgage, releas
of mortgage, chattea mortgage, GER
tificate of Incorporation, building con-
tract, mechanics lien, judgment, chan
cery- notice, all certificates for un-
paid taxes, all bonds, revolver per-
mits, appointments and awards OF
commissioners in condemnation pro
ceedings, etc, etc. All of these pa
pers must be inspected and examined
before they are stamped for filing or
recording and then, if in proper form
are spread upon the records by the
employees of the office and are care
fully compared with the original pa
pers before they are returned to the
parties leaving them. A statement
and description of each deed is
copied and forwarded to the assessor
of the municipality in which the prop
erty is located for the purpose OF
notifying the assessor of the change
of ownership.
Perhaps one of the most important
branches of the clerks office is the
vast amount of work connected with
the elections. This work which re-
quires lot of skill and painstakine
ability Besides the many details
connected with the work of printing
of the hundreds of election blanks
and the preparing of the copies OF
the sample and official ballots, &C.
for the printer and the supervision
OF the printing of the ballots, &C.,
the county clerk is the person who
must keep posted all of the time re-
garding the law, and the construction
placed upon it by the courts.
All of the hunters licenses are is
sued from the county clerks office
to the municipal clerks of the coun-
ty and to individuals as well, and he
is held responsible to the state for
The issuance of thousands of these
licenses and must keep an account
with each municipal clerk and report
the same to the board of fish and
game commissioners. The widows
pensions cases, truancy cases, etc,
also come through the county clerk S
office.
While we do not assume to have
given in fula detail all the matters
that are handled by the county clerks
office we trust that the above will
be of some enlightenment to those
who are not familiar with the work