DCO Vision Statement

To serve the legal community and the public at large with a commitment to accountability, innovation, and efficiency. Our work is essential, our service is exceptional.

Mission Statement

The Harris County District Clerk’s Office is committed to maintaining official court records and to providing the judicial system and the public with information and support in the most efficient and technologically advanced manner.

About the Office of District Clerk (DCO)

The District Clerk is elected for a four-year term and is the recorder and custodian of all court documents for over 90 Courts in Harris County. The office maintains the official record of all court proceedings heard in the Criminal, Civil, Family and Juvenile District Courts, and County Criminal Courts, as well as numerous specialty courts, with just over 500 employees. Additionally, the office functions as a fee officer for the collection of court fees and fines, maintains a court registry with over $100 million dollars in over 10,000 custodial accounts, which are invested for the benefit of many minor children on orders from the courts. The office also produces a substantial number of court documents including civil citations, criminal warrants, criminal judgments and sentences, and performs other ministerial duties. Currently, the office receives around one million civil case filings every year and approximately 300,000 criminal filings each year.

We also secure trial evidence, summon jurors, preserve historical documents, maintain a mailroom for the downtown courthouse complex, and process passport applications.

The District Clerk's Office has implemented many electronic solutions in the recent years to move the office closer to a paperless environment. These include electronic charging documents from the District Attorney, electronic transmission of service papers, electronic warrants from the Sheriff, online scheduling of civil hearings, an electronic jury summons process, electronic processing of plea papers, electronic notifications to attorneys, and much more. We now accept credit card payments online for criminal fines on a payment plan.

Our website offers online access to data and images of court documents for all cases, except sealed or confidential cases. We offer the public access to view criminal histories that cover offenses filed in Harris County.

For a PDF handout on the Harris County District Clerk’s Office, click here.