Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk Records

The Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk

The Circuit Court Clerk is Joseph P. Day. The office maintains records for the eight Circuit Courts and the civil records for the eleven General Sessions Courts, plus Probate and Traffic Bureau services. Its website is built for people interacting with the Circuit, Probate, General Sessions-Civil, and Traffic Courts. The office publishes court calendars, motion and trial dockets, local rules, fee schedules, and downloadable forms.

Four offices sit under the Circuit Court Clerk: the Circuit Court Clerk's Office, the Probate Court Clerk's Office, the General Sessions-Civil Division Clerk's Office, and the Traffic Violation Bureau. The Circuit Court Clerk homepage and contact page list these divisions and their services.

Because of this structure, the Circuit Court Clerk is the right office for most civil, probate, and traffic copy needs in Davidson County.

Davidson County Split Clerk Structure

Davidson County does not use one clerk for everything. Different elected and appointed clerks keep different record systems. This is the single most useful thing to understand before you search. The Circuit Court Clerk handles civil, probate, General Sessions-Civil, and traffic. Criminal court records belong to a separate clerk. Equity and Chancery records belong to the Clerk and Master. Marriage and many non-court county records belong to the County Clerk.

Note: In Davidson County, "County Clerk" does not mean the court clerk for most case files; it mainly handles marriage, vehicle, business, and notary services.

CaseSearch and CaseLink

The Circuit Court Clerk runs the county's main civil case portals. CaseSearch is the free basic lookup for Circuit, Probate, and General Sessions-Civil cases, searchable by party name. CaseLink is the paid subscription that adds detailed filings, document images, case alerts, and online billing for $25 per month. The clerk even offers complimentary on-site training for Davidson County subscribers.

For a basic case lookup, start free. For images or detailed filings, expect CaseLink or a direct copy request. See the court records page for the full search walkthrough.

Circuit Court Clerk Copy Fees

Copy fees are set by statute. The Circuit Court Clerk charges per page for plain copies and adds a flat fee to certify a document. A congressional certification costs more. A CaseLink subscription is billed monthly. The amounts below were listed on the official pages at research time, so confirm before you pay.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy is the version courts and agencies accept as proof. Getting one is straightforward when you have the case details. The steps below follow the clerk's stated process.

1. Identify the court and clerk that hold the case.
2. Gather the case number, or party names and the filing year.
3. Request the copy in person, by mail, or through the clerk's process.
4. Ask specifically for a certified copy if you need one.
5. Pay the per-page fee plus the certification fee.

Including a case number speeds processing, according to the clerk's contact page.

Payment Methods

The Circuit Court Clerk accepts several payment types. In person, you can pay with cash, a credit or debit card with a 2.25 percent vendor fee, a personal check payable to the Circuit Court Clerk, a cashier's check, or a money order. For electronic filing, payment is by e-check or debit and credit card only. Payment is due at the time of filing.

Keep the vendor fee in mind when paying by card, since it adds to the total.

Public Records Request Form Fields

For records that are not pulled through a routine copy request, the clerk uses a response form. It captures the requester's contact details and how the office handled the request. The fields below come from the Circuit Court Clerk response form.

Contact and Hours

The Circuit Court Clerk's main office is in the Historic Metropolitan Courthouse downtown. Office hours run weekday mornings and afternoons, with the Traffic Bureau closing a few minutes earlier. The card below lists the contact details, and the clerk's support email is circuitclerksupport@jisnashville.gov.

The Circuit Court Clerk contact page lists the division emails and mailing addresses.

Clerk staff can provide records, forms, fees, and docket information, but they cannot give legal advice.

Resource Center and Clerk Help

The Circuit Court Clerk offers more than a copy window. A Resource Center sits at 1 Public Square, Suite 303, to help people interacting with the courts. The office also publishes The Day Times, a monthly newsletter that has run since 1983, with procedural updates and statistics on filings, dispositions, and collections. When the clerk cannot answer a legal question, the office refers people to a licensed attorney or the Nashville Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

For accessibility needs, the contact page lists an ADA contact at 615-880-3309. Reach out as early as possible before a hearing.

Criminal Court Clerk and Clerk and Master

Two other clerks round out the picture. The Criminal Court Clerk, Howard Gentry, maintains General Sessions-Criminal and State Trial Criminal Court records and handles background checks and expungement processing. The Clerk and Master maintains Chancery Court records from May 1846 forward. The cards below list both offices.

The Criminal Court Clerk staff directory page identifies the office divisions.

For criminal copies, you contact the Criminal Court Clerk, not the Circuit Court Clerk.

Related Davidson County Searches

For the case search process, see court records. For daily settings, see court dockets, and for the trial court structure, see the Circuit Court page.