Bristol County Clerk of Courts

The Bristol County Clerk Structure

Massachusetts uses a statewide Trial Court model with seven departments. Bristol County has active courthouses across Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford, and Attleboro. Each department assigns a different clerk title to the office that holds the case file. This matters because official copies can only come from the office where the case was filed. Checking docket information through MassCourts Electronic Case Access is free and public, but it is not a substitute for an official certified copy. The MassCourts portal gives docket information and scheduled dates; the actual record lives with the clerk or register.

The split also means fees vary by department. There is no single Bristol County fee schedule that covers all courts. Superior Court copy fees come from the Superior Court Clerk of Courts office. District Court copy fees come from the Clerk-Magistrate at the specific division. Probate copy fees come from the Register's Office. Mass.gov posts department-specific filing-fee pages, and each clerk office can confirm its current copy fee when you call. Do not rely on a general county-wide amount because it does not exist in official sources.

Land records are a separate matter. The Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds handles deeds, mortgages, and related property documents. Those records are not court records and are not held by any of the Trial Court clerk offices listed here. For land records, contact the Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds directly.

Bristol County Superior Court Clerk of Courts

The Clerk of Courts for Bristol County Superior Court is Jennifer Sullivan. The Superior Court Clerk of Courts office handles felony criminal and major civil filings for the county. Bristol County Superior Court operates across three locations. The Taunton courthouse at 9 Court St. serves as the main administrative location and is the mailing address for the Clerk of Courts. Taunton and Fall River Superior Court sessions handle criminal matters only. New Bedford Superior Court handles civil matters only. If you need a copy from a Superior Court case, identify whether it was criminal or civil first, then confirm which location holds the file.

The Taunton Superior Court location also houses the Bristol Law Library on the second floor, open Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The library provides free Westlaw and Lexis access and public Wi-Fi. Visitors go through security at the main entrance before heading upstairs.

The Mass.gov location page for Bristol County Superior Court in Taunton is the official source for the Clerk of Courts address, phone, and email shown above. Mass.gov notes paid parking lots are nearby and the court is accessible via Southeastern Regional Transit Authority at (508) 999-5211. ADA inquiries go to Aaron Strojny at 508-823-6588 or Aaron.strojny@jud.state.ma.us.

The image below is taken from the official Bristol County Superior Court location page on Mass.gov, which shows the Clerk of Courts contact panel and office details.

The Mass.gov panel confirms the Clerk's Office phone, email, and hours listed in the contact card above; use that page as the authoritative source if any of these details change.

Clerk Offices by Court Department

The table below lists each active Bristol County Trial Court clerk or register office, the named official on record at Mass.gov, and the types of records that office holds. Contact the specific office where your case was filed to get copies. See the court records page and the court dockets page for guidance on how to search before contacting a clerk.

Note: Juvenile Court records are restricted under M.G.L. c. 119, § 60A; the public may not inspect delinquency records without consent of a justice.

How to Request a Bristol County Certified Copy

Certified copies carry an official stamp from the clerk or register and are accepted in legal proceedings, insurance claims, and other formal uses where an uncertified print-out will not do. Plain copies cost less but may not be accepted where a certified copy is required. Because Bristol County's court records sit in different offices by department, the steps below apply to any of the clerk offices in the table above. Start by identifying the right office.

1. Find the case in MassCourts. Go to MassCourts Electronic Case Access and search by name or docket number. Note the court department, division, filing year, and full docket number. You will need that number when you contact the clerk.
2. Identify the correct clerk office. Use the department shown in MassCourts and match it to the table above. For example, a New Bedford District Court case goes to the New Bedford District Court Clerk-Magistrate at 75 N. Sixth St. A Bristol Superior Court civil case goes to the Clerk of Courts in Taunton or the New Bedford Superior Court civil location depending on where it was filed.
3. Contact the clerk's office before sending payment. Call or email the clerk to confirm the copy fee for your specific document type and the accepted payment methods. Fees vary by department and document type. Do not mail payment before confirming the correct amount.
4. Submit your request. Provide the full docket number, the names of the parties, the case type, the filing year, and the specific document or documents you need. Include the number of copies requested. Written requests sent by mail should include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want copies returned by mail.
5. Pay the fee. Bring or mail the correct payment. Some offices accept cash, check, and credit card; others may be more limited. Confirm in step 3. Separate checks may be required for different fee types at some locations.
6. Pick up or wait for mail. In-person pickup is fastest. Mail requests take longer depending on the office workload. If the office needs to retrieve archived files, allow extra time and ask during your initial contact how long that typically takes.

Mass.gov's docket guidance states clearly that the online case portal provides electronic access to basic case information, not the official public record. Official hard copies must come from the Clerk, Register, or Recorder at the office where the case was filed. See the public records page for information on how Massachusetts public records law applies to non-court agency records.

Bristol County Records Request Form Fields

Massachusetts court clerk offices do not use a single statewide court-copy request form. Each department may have its own form or may accept a written letter. The Secretary of the Commonwealth publishes a public records request template for agency and municipal records; that format is a useful model even for court copy requests because it includes all the key fields a clerk will need. The table below covers the standard fields to include in any written request to a Bristol County clerk or register office.

Bristol County Filing Fees and Where to Find Them

Bristol County court fees are set at the state department level, not by county. Each Trial Court department publishes its own fee schedule on Mass.gov, linked from individual court location pages. The Superior Court Clerk of Courts, each District Court Clerk-Magistrate, and the Probate and Family Court Register all follow separate fee structures for filing, copies, certifications, and search services. Because the fee amounts can change and differ by document type and department, this page does not publish specific dollar amounts. Contact the clerk office handling your case to get the current fee before sending any payment.

For a general sense of how Massachusetts court fees work: filing fees depend on case type and relief sought; copy fees may be charged per page, per document, or per certification; and some search services may carry a small fee while others are provided without charge. Each clerk office staff member can confirm the exact amount for your specific request. The official Mass.gov location pages for each Bristol court include links to department forms and fee pages.

The Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds, which is separate from the Trial Court, does publish its fee schedule publicly. Examples from the Registry's published fee page include recording fees for deeds, mortgages, and homestead declarations. That fee information applies only to land records at the Registry, not to court copy requests. The Registry is at tauntondeeds.com and recording hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Note: If a case is in Superior Court, confirm whether the file is at the Taunton criminal location, the Fall River criminal location, or the New Bedford civil location before mailing any payment or request.

Housing and Other Clerk Offices

The Southeast Housing Court serves Bristol County through three sessions. The Fall River session is at 289 Rock St., Fall River; the New Bedford session is at 139 Hathaway Road, New Bedford; and the Taunton session is at 40 Broadway, Taunton. Clerk-Magistrate Joseph B. McIntyre and Chief Housing Specialist Suzette E. Fagan-Clarke lead the Housing Court clerk operation. Housing Court handles evictions (summary process), housing conditions complaints, code enforcement matters, and housing-related small claims and civil disputes. Copies of Housing Court records go through that court's clerk office, not the Superior Court Clerk of Courts.

Juvenile Court clerk offices at Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton hold delinquency, youthful offender, care and protection, and child requiring assistance records. Access to Juvenile Court records is heavily restricted by M.G.L. c. 119, § 60A. Members of the public cannot inspect delinquency records without consent of a justice. If you have a question about a Juvenile Court file, contact the clerk at the specific Juvenile Court location and be prepared to explain your legal relationship to the case. The probate records page has more detail on Probate and Family Court access, which is the other department with significant access restrictions.

The image below comes from the Southeast Housing Court Fall River Session page on Mass.gov, which shows the clerk-magistrate and housing specialist contact details for that location.

Housing Court cases involving Bristol County towns and cities are divided among the three sessions by geography, so confirm which session location covers the property address before contacting a clerk.

For Superior Court case records specifically, the Taunton Clerk of Courts office is the administrative anchor. For District Court records, each of the four District Court divisions maintains its own files independently.

Bristol County Land Records and the Registry of Deeds

Property records in Bristol County are not court records. Deeds, mortgages, homesteads, municipal lien certificates, UCC documents, and related land instruments are recorded at Registry of Deeds offices, not at Trial Court clerk offices. The primary Registry serving the northern part of Bristol County is the Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds in Taunton. Documents filed there are public and available at the office or online; there is no charge for viewing documents at the Registry according to its published policy.

The Registry is a completely separate government office from the Superior Court Clerk of Courts and from any Trial Court department. If someone refers you to a "county clerk" for a deed or mortgage, they mean the Registry of Deeds, not a court clerk. If someone refers you to a "clerk" for a civil or criminal court file, they mean one of the Trial Court clerk offices listed in the table above. Mixing up the two is a common point of confusion in Massachusetts, where the county-clerk model found in other states does not apply.

For property searches, use the Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds fee and filing page at tauntondeeds.com/1205/Fees-Filings. For court case searches, use MassCourts Electronic Case Access. The two systems are separate and serve different types of public records.

Questions about deeds and real property title should go to the Registry. Questions about court filings, case status, or certified copies of court documents should go to the clerk or register at the court department that handled the case. See the court records page for a full breakdown of what each Trial Court department holds, and the court dockets page for how to read docket entries before contacting a clerk office.