Row Officers
The Office of the Clerk of Courts
Mary K. Smithson
Clerk of
Courts
Mission Statement
The mission of the Clerk of Courts office is to provide a wide range
of services to the public, judicial systems, county government and
other agencies. Employees, in performing their constitutional and
statutory duties are committed to operation in a fair, helpful and
efficient manner. We accomplish this by maintaining high professional
standards through employee training and technology optimization.
2013 Fee Bill
Office Overview
The Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions and Oyer and Terminer has existed in
Pennsylvania since the first organization of English government in colonial America. A change in the Pennsylvania Constitution consolidated all the various courts into the Court of Common Pleas with the clerk now being known as the Clerk of Courts.
The primary responsibility of the Clerk of Courts is the custodian of the criminal court records. We also are the keeper of the juvenile delinquency and dependency court records. In January of 2006, Bucks County Clerk of Courts went live on the Pennsylvania Common Pleas Case Management System, also known as CPCMS. All 67 Counties in Pennsylvania utilize CPCMS to facilitate the transfer of information and data from the Magisterial District Courts, Court of Common Pleas, and PA State Police. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts is constantly updating CPCMS to keep up with ever-changing legislation and rules and to interface with other state and local agencies systems. All of the case processing in Clerk of Courts is entered into CPCMS which helps to drive an efficient and effective criminal justice system.
I am very proud to present the following financial facts on behalf of the dedicated staff of the Bucks County Clerk of Courts office. The Clerk of Courts office assesses, collects, and disperses court costs and restitution. In 2010, we dispersed over $4.6 million to the County of Bucks and $2.3 million to the PA Department of Revenue. In addition, we collected and dispersed over $2.2 million to crime victims in the form of restitution. These collections reveal an increase from 2009 of 8.2% in County revenue, 8% in State revenue, and 18% in restitution.
NCO Financial Systems Inc. is a collection agency Clerk of Courts contracted with in 1997 to collect delinquent costs. Since contracting with NCO, this agency has generated additional revenue at no cost to the taxpayers. Since the implementation of CPCMS, our office is able to send delinquent costs to collections more efficiently. Our collection agency revenue for 2010 was our best year yet at $603,724.00. This was a $56% increase from 2009.
We will continue our long tradition of quality and service while maintaining the integrity of our criminal records. Please email us at cocassociates@co.bucks.pa.us if you should have any questions.
Thank you,
Mary K. Smithson
Useful Links
Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System: http://ujsportal.pacourts.us
PA Megan's Law database: http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/
Office of The Clerk of Courts
Mary K. Smithson
Clerk of Courts
Bucks County Courthouse
55 East Court Street
Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901
Phone: 215 348-6389
Fax: 215 348-6740
cocassociates@co.bucks.pa.us