Search Richmond County Clerk Records

The Richmond County Clerk's Role

The Office of the Richmond County Clerk, State of New York, is the county's central records office. It has two distinct functions that are easy to confuse. As county records officer, the clerk maintains land documents, judgments, liens, business certificates, notary filings, and other county-level records that predate or run alongside court activity. As clerk of record for Supreme Court, the office files, indexes, and stores the official papers in civil Supreme Court cases, collects filing fees such as index numbers and RJI fees, and issues certified copies of those records when asked.

The clerk is at 130 Stuyvesant Place, a short walk from the Supreme Court building at 26 Central Avenue and from the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The St. George civic center clusters most county offices in this area, which makes it possible to visit both offices in one trip when a case requires it.

The County Clerk is not the only clerk in the Richmond County court system. Each court also has an operational clerk for calendars, parts, forms, and day-to-day court management. Chief Clerk Kenneth Fay oversees Supreme Court operations. Civil Term Clerk John Tenaglia and Criminal Term Clerk Siobhan H. Shea-Gillespie handle their respective divisions. Surrogate's Court Chief Clerk Ronald M. Cerrachio manages probate and estate filings. The Richmond County court clerks by division page explains each of those roles and how to contact the right office for operational questions.

Court Clerks by Division vs. the County Clerk

Users often contact the wrong office because "county clerk" and "court clerk" sound similar. The difference is practical. The Richmond County Clerk holds the official file for Supreme Court civil cases and county records. It is the office to call when you need a certified copy of a Supreme Court judgment, a filed business certificate, a transcript of judgment, a mechanics lien, or a recorded deed. Filing fees for new Supreme Court actions, including index numbers and RJI filings, are paid here.

The operational clerks inside each court handle calendars, scheduling, parts, adjournments, daily filings, forms, help center access, and courtroom logistics. If you want to know when a case is next on the calendar, need a family court form, or want to know which part your surrogate matter is in, the court clerk for that division is the right contact, not the County Clerk at Stuyvesant Place. The NY CourtHelp page on getting court records lays out this distinction clearly.

Some records do not belong to either the County Clerk or a court clerk. Marriage licenses come from the NYC City Clerk/Marriage Bureau. Marriage records from older years may be at NYC Department of Records/Municipal Archives. Criminal history reports through the court system cost $95 and run through a separate process. Inmate records run through NYC DOC for local custody or through DOCCS for state prison. Matching the record type to the right agency saves time and avoids misdirected requests. See the court clerks by division page for a full routing table.

Richmond County Clerk Land Document Search

The Richmond County Clerk operates a free public search portal for land documents at richmondcountyclerk.com. The portal is distinct from the NY Courts eCourts system. It does not show court dockets or criminal cases. It covers deeds, mortgages, recorded liens, notices, and other county clerk record categories.

The search menu offers six modes. Each mode is a button that leads to a separate search form. The portal uses a hidden reCAPTCHA token in its form submission process, so exact downstream fields in each mode require live manual inspection. The menu labels, however, are clear from the official page.

Land documents in the Richmond County Clerk system include recorded deeds, mortgages, mechanic's liens, federal tax liens, hospital liens, powers of attorney, notices of pendency, transcripts of judgment, business certificates, and related instruments. These are not the same as court dockets. A lien filed with the clerk has its own document number and date; a judgment entered in a civil case also lives in the court docket but its transcript is separately filed with the clerk for enforcement.

The Richmond County Clerk land document search page provides the official entry point for searching deeds, liens, and other county records on Staten Island.

Court records from Richmond County Supreme Court, including certified judgments, orders, and pleadings, are also obtainable through the County Clerk office, which holds the physical files for civil Supreme Court cases in addition to the land document records.

Richmond County Supreme Court Filing Fees

Filing fees for Supreme Court civil actions in Richmond County are paid to the County Clerk. The fee schedule below is drawn from the official Richmond County Clerk fee page. These fees apply to Supreme Court civil matters; probate fees run through Surrogate's Court and criminal filing processes are separate.

The full fee schedule at the County Clerk's website also covers county-record fees, lien filings, business certificates, notary renewals, and authentication services. Fees apply per filing event, not per case overall, so a multi-step case can accumulate several fee payments across motions, notes of issue, and copies.

Certified Copy and County Record Fees

Certified copies are the version courts and agencies require for legal proceedings. A plain printout from an online search portal does not carry the clerk's seal and is not accepted in that context. The Richmond County Clerk issues certified copies of both Supreme Court records and county clerk records, with different fees for each category.

County-record fees for liens, business certificates, notary renewals, and similar filings round out the clerk's schedule. Business Certificate filing is $100. Notary renewal is $60. Mechanics Lien filing is $30. Federal Tax Lien filing is $40. Mechanics Lien Amendment is also $30. Notice of Pendency filing is $35. The full list is on the official fee page.

Judgments, Liens, Business Certificates, and Notary Records

Beyond court records and land documents, the Richmond County Clerk maintains several categories of county filings that come up often in business and legal research. Each category has its own fee and its own process.

Judgments from Richmond County Supreme Court can be transcribed and filed with the County Clerk to create a lien against real property in Staten Island. A transcript of judgment costs $25 to file and $15 to issue. Once filed, the judgment lien attaches to property the debtor owns in Richmond County. Enforcement may involve a sheriff execution, which carries its own $5 fee, or wage garnishment through a separate income execution process. Judgment liens also appear in the land document search portal using party name or document number.

Business certificates, also called assumed-name certificates or DBA filings, are filed with the County Clerk. A new business certificate costs $100. Certified copies of business certificates cost $10 per document plus $0.25 per page. Sole proprietors and partnerships doing business under a trade name in Richmond County must file with the County Clerk under New York General Business Law. Corporations and LLCs follow a different registration process through the New York Department of State, which is not a County Clerk function.

Notary public renewals and commissioner of deeds filings are handled by the County Clerk. A notary renewal is $60. Authentication of a notary signature costs $3. Federal tax liens filed by the IRS against taxpayers with Richmond County property are recorded with the clerk at $40 each. Mechanics liens for construction and material work on Richmond County property are filed at $30, with amendments at $30 as well. Hospital liens are filed at $5 per lien.

How to Request a Certified Copy from the Richmond County Clerk

No separate downloadable copy-request form was located on the official Richmond County Clerk site during research for this page. The clerk's office supports in-person and mail requests. Contact the office directly to confirm current procedures and any form requirements before mailing a request.

1. Identify the exact record you need. Know the court (Supreme Court civil vs. county clerk record), the case or document number (index number, document number, or file number), and the party names. If you have the index number, include it.
2. Determine whether you need a certified copy or a plain copy. Certified copies carry the clerk's seal and cost more. Plain copies at $0.25 per page work for personal reference but are not accepted in most legal proceedings.
3. Calculate the estimated fee. Certified court records cost $8 per document plus $0.25 per page. Certified county clerk records cost $10 per document plus $0.25 per page. Add the $5 court records search fee for a two-year search if you do not have an exact document number.
4. Contact the office to confirm procedure. Call 718-675-8700 or visit 130 Stuyvesant Place, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ask whether a mail-in request requires a specific form and what payment methods are accepted.
5. Submit your request in person or by mail. In person, bring photo identification and payment. By mail, include a written request with the document description, your contact information, and a check or money order payable to the Richmond County Clerk in the estimated amount.
6. Allow time for processing. The clerk will search the records and provide the certified copy. If additional fees apply, you may be contacted before the copy is released.

For e-filed Supreme Court cases, documents may also be available through NYSCEF guest search without charge. The NY Courts forms library at forms.nycourts.gov lists court forms that may be needed for filings or record requests in Richmond County Supreme Court.

The NY Courts forms library provides standardized court forms for New York State, including forms used in Richmond County Supreme Court and clerk office procedures.

Standardized NY Courts forms are free to download and print; some are interactive PDFs. Using the official form for your request type reduces the chance of a rejection or delay at the clerk's window in Richmond County.

When to Contact a Different Clerk or Office

The Richmond County Clerk does not handle every record type on Staten Island. Routing a request to the wrong office wastes time. The table below matches common record types to the correct contact.

When in doubt, start with the NY CourtHelp page on getting court records and the eCourts gateway. Those resources route most users to the right tool without a phone call to a clerk who cannot help with a different court's records.

NYSCEF and E-Filing in Richmond County

The New York State Courts Electronic Filing system, NYSCEF, is mandatory for most Richmond County Supreme Court civil cases since the 2025 expansion of Uniform Rule 202.5-bb. Attorneys and represented parties in covered case types must file electronically. Unrepresented parties are generally not required to use NYSCEF even in mandatory cases, but they may opt in voluntarily.

Filing through NYSCEF does not bypass the County Clerk. Index numbers, RJI fees, and other filing fees are still collected through the clerk process, which integrates with the NYSCEF workflow. E-filed documents appear on the docket in WebCivil Supreme and can be read by the public through NYSCEF guest search without creating an account. Users click "Search as Guest" on the NYSCEF homepage to access public documents in e-filed Richmond County cases.

For users who need to serve jury duty, juror reporting information for Richmond County is available through the statewide NY Juror portal. Juror service is administered through the state court system and is a separate function from clerk records, but both the court and the County Clerk are part of the same Richmond County judicial system.

The NY Juror portal manages reporting, postponements, and service information for state court jurors, including those summoned to Richmond County Supreme Court.

Juror information, including postponement requests and reporting status, is handled through the NY Juror system, not through the County Clerk, though both are part of the broader court administration serving Richmond County.

Related Richmond County Records Resources

For the broader picture of records in Richmond County, see Richmond County court records for the full portal guide, court clerks by division for operational clerk contacts, Richmond County Supreme Court for civil and criminal trial court records, Surrogate's Court for probate and estate filings, and public records for FOIL requests to agency administrative records.