Access the Burlington County Superior Court Clerk

Burlington County Clerk Split

New Jersey uses a split clerk structure, and this trips up a lot of people. The Burlington County Clerk records land documents, runs elections, processes passports, and handles notary and trade-name services. That office does not keep court files. It even states plainly that it is not part of the judicial system, and that court business, summons response, jury duty, and requests for court documents or divorce records must go to the right judicial body.

So where do court records live? With the New Jersey Courts and the Burlington Vicinage. Court filings, case jackets, foreclosures, and judgment records sit on the court side. Deeds, mortgages, and liens against real property sit on the recording side. If you need a recorded land document or a property record, start with the Burlington County Clerk. If you need a court file, summons, or divorce record, start here on the court side.

This distinction matters before you do anything else. Pick the wrong office and you waste a trip or a phone call. The rest of this page covers the court-record side: the Superior Court Clerk's Office, the local vicinage, the electronic systems, and how to get a certified copy.

What the Superior Court Clerk Does

The Superior Court Clerk's Office is a statewide office, often shortened to SCCO. It is not a Burlington-only counter. It serves the whole Superior Court of New Jersey, and Burlington County cases route through it for several core functions. Think of it as the central records and processing hub behind the local court offices.

Its main duties are court-record storage and retrieval, foreclosures, judgment liens, and attorney registration. When a court file needs to be stored, pulled, or copied, the SCCO is the office behind that work. Foreclosure case processing also runs through it. Money judgments that become liens are recorded and tracked there too, which is why a judgment-lien search is part of the court system rather than the land-records office. Attorneys register and stay in good standing through the same office.

You can read about the office and its functions on the NJ Courts Superior Court Clerk's Office page. Burlington County users reach these functions through the statewide office and the local vicinage as directed, rather than through a stand-alone county court clerk.

Burlington Vicinage Court Facility

New Jersey groups its trial courts by vicinage, and Burlington County is Vicinage 3. The local court offices that serve walk-in needs, filings, and case questions are housed at the Burlington County Court Facility in Mount Holly. This is the place to direct most local court business when an online tool cannot finish the job.

The Assignment Judge is Terrence R. Cook, and the Trial Court Administrator is Alba R. Rivera. The Assignment Judge leads the vicinage; the Trial Court Administrator manages day-to-day court operations. The contact card below lists the main address, phone, and public hours. Always confirm the right division or counter before you go, since civil, criminal, and family matters can sit in different parts of the building.

For the structure of the trial court itself and how its divisions split up the work, see the Superior Court page.

eCourts and JEDS Filing Systems

NJ Courts runs eCourts, the state's electronic filing and case-management system. It is how most modern court documents move into and through the system. Who can do what in eCourts depends on the user.

Attorneys in good standing get the widest access. They can file documents and start cases in civil, criminal, Tax Court, and appellate matters. They pay filing fees online through the Judiciary Account Charge System, known as JACS. They can request transcripts and open electronic case jackets. Self-represented people get a narrower path. A self-represented litigant can request direct access to their own qualifying civil case, which means a lawsuit over $20,000, a landlord-tenant case, or a foreclosure case.

JEDS fills the gap for people without full eCourts access. The Judiciary Electronic Document Submission tool lets you upload documents, request court records, and ask for a new court date. It is useful, but it does not replace every case-specific eCourts workflow. You can review the system on the NJ Courts eCourts page.

• Attorneys: file, pay through JACS, request transcripts, open case jackets.
• Self-represented litigants: request direct access to a qualifying civil case.
• JEDS users: upload documents, request records, ask for a new court date.
• Some matters are excluded from eCourts Criminal, such as sealed documents and expungements.

Burlington County Electronic Case Jacket

The electronic Case Jacket is the online folder for a case. It shows case summary information and can hold e-filed documents and notices. That may include complaints, motions, briefs, signed orders, and notifications. For many civil and foreclosure cases, the Case Jacket is the fastest way to see what has been filed and when.

It does not hold everything, though. If a document was filed on paper before eCourts, or sent in by a non-eCourts user, it may not appear unless staff uploaded it. Criminal case jackets in particular may leave out discovery, presentence reports, and older paper filings. NJ Courts is direct about the fix: if a document is not in the Case Jacket, follow the customary records request process to get it.

The official explainer sits on the NJ Courts Case Jacket FAQ. For a deeper walkthrough of searching cases and reading results, the court records page covers the portals step by step, and the court dockets page explains docket entries.

Note: a Case Jacket that lacks a document does not mean the document does not exist, only that it has not been added to the electronic file.

Burlington County Court Record Tools

Court records in New Jersey are not all in one search box. The system you use depends on the case type, and each tool takes different inputs. Picking the right one first saves time. The table maps the main court-record search tools to what each one covers and how you search it.

For civil and foreclosure cases, a docket number gives a cleaner result than a name, since common New Jersey names can return long lists. For criminal judgments, the SBI number is the most precise of the four identifiers. Municipal matters are different again. NJMCDirect and Municipal Court Case Search need a ticket or complaint number, and you can reach them through the NJ Courts municipal court page. A countywide name sweep is not the right first move for a traffic ticket.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy is a court-stamped copy that proves the document is a true record. You often need one for a legal proceeding, a name change, or another official use. An uncertified copy printed from an online tool may not be accepted in court. So if the copy is for a legal use, ask for certification on purpose. The steps below outline the request.

1. Identify the case type and the court. A Superior Court file and a municipal court file are handled differently.
2. Get the docket number, complaint number, or ticket number for the case. This is the key identifier.
3. Use the NJ Courts records request process, or contact the Burlington Vicinage at the court facility for help.
4. Pay any applicable fee for the copy and certification.
5. Ask specifically for a certified copy if you need it for a legal proceeding.

If the document is already in the electronic Case Jacket, a party or attorney may be able to view it there. But viewing is not the same as a certified copy. For a stamped, court-issued copy, the records request route is the correct path. When the matter is a municipal ticket, the request goes to the specific municipal court that heard it, not the vicinage.

Court Copy and Records Fees

Fees come up whenever you order copies, file documents, or ask for a special service. The court side and the county side use different fee rules, and it helps to keep them apart. Court filing fees in eCourts are paid through JACS, the Judiciary Account Charge System. Certified court-copy fees follow NJ Courts procedures, so confirm the current amount with the vicinage or through the records request process before you assume a price.

The only county copy rates the public record clearly states are the OPRA copy rates used by the Burlington County Clerk for county-agency records. Those are not court fees, but they show the general copy-cost level and help when budgeting a county document request. The table lists them.

The OPRA rates above belong to the Burlington County Clerk and apply to county records, not court files. Delivery, postage, and special service charges can add to a county request. For court files, the fee depends on the document and the service, so ask the office handling your request. Never treat an online OPRA rate as the court's certified-copy price.

Court Clerk Terms Explained

A few terms come up again and again when people deal with the court clerk side. Knowing them keeps a records request clear. None of these are land-records terms; they belong to the court file.

Docket number

The case ID assigned by the court. It is the most precise way to pull a civil or foreclosure file.

Judgment lien

A money judgment recorded so it attaches to a debtor's property. The court system tracks these, not the land-records office.

Foreclosure

A court case to take property after a mortgage default. The Superior Court Clerk's Office processes these statewide.

Case jacket

The folder, now often electronic, that holds the filings and notices for a single case.

Certified copy

A court-stamped copy that proves the document is genuine and is accepted for legal use.

These terms run through most court-record requests in the county. When you call the vicinage or use a records request, the right word helps staff find what you need faster.

When to Use Each Office

Two clerk roles, one common mix-up. The quick rule: court files go to the court side, recorded property documents go to the county side. If you are not sure which you need, name the document first, then pick the office.

If the item is a deed, mortgage, lien against real property, or another recorded instrument, start with the County Clerk and the PRESS land-records system. If it is a court filing, a divorce decree, a summons, a judgment of conviction, or a civil case jacket, start with the court side covered here. Probate administration is a third path: estate filings begin with the Surrogate, and contested probate can move into the Superior Court, Chancery Division.

For tied-together topics, the court records page walks through each search portal, the court dockets page explains docket entries, and the FAQ answers common questions about getting copies and finding cases. When the matter is a recorded land document, the Burlington County Clerk page is the right starting point.