Durham Clerk Contact Card
North Carolina uses a unified Clerk of Superior Court for state trial court records. Durham County's elected Clerk is Aminah M. Thompson. The Clerk handles administrative, clerical, and record-keeping functions for both Superior Court and District Court. The same office also serves as Judge of Probate for wills, estates, guardianships, adoptions, foreclosures, partitions, name changes, and related special proceedings.
Durham County Clerk of Superior Court
Clerk: Aminah M. Thompson
510 S. Dillard St.
Durham, NC 27701
919-808-3000
Durham.Clerk@nccourts.org
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
The NC court records access help topic explains clerk access and copy channels.
State help confirms the same core rule Durham applies: online search helps, but the clerk remains the official records office.
Durham Clerk Rooms Phones
The Durham Clerk page is unusually specific about room numbers and phone lines. That helps court users avoid the wrong counter. Civil, Family Court, Judgments, District Criminal/Traffic, Superior Criminal, Estates, Special Proceedings, and magistrate functions all sit under the court system, but each handles a different part of the record or filing process.
| Department | Room or location | Phone | Records or duties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil | 1st Floor Room 1500 | 919-808-3003 | Pro se lawsuits, evictions, restraining orders, tax foreclosures, divorce decrees less than 10 years old. |
| Family Court | 6th Floor Room 6500 | 919-808-3075 | Divorce filing, non-DSS custody, non-DSS child support. |
| Judgments | 1st Floor Room 1400 | 919-808-3008 | Older divorce decrees, small-claims appeals, rent bonds, judgment collection, liens, resumption of name. |
| District Criminal/Traffic | 1st Floor Room 1300 | 919-808-3002 | Criminal and traffic dates, citation payments, bond forfeitures, vehicle seizures. |
| Superior Criminal | 2nd Floor Room 2100 | 919-808-3007 | CRS bond forfeitures, superior criminal dates, attorney information, CRS file copies. |
| Estates | 2nd Floor Room 2300 | 919-808-3004 | Wills, probate, inventories, year's allowance, transfer of title due to death, guardianships. |
| Special Proceedings | 2nd Floor Room 2400 | 919-808-3009 | Adult guardianships, name changes, adoptions, foreclosures, surplus funds, partitions. |
Durham Clerk Records Access
Durham County court case lookup is primarily through the North Carolina eCourts Portal and the Clerk. The county records access source says users may search online by name, case number, attorney, and more, while the state help topic adds that public self-service terminals at clerk offices provide criminal, civil, special proceeding, and estate case information. Paper files must be viewed at the clerk's office in the county where the case is located.
For current public case data, use the North Carolina eCourts Portal. For certified copies, background-check work, older records, or documents not visible online, contact the correct Durham Clerk department. Durham County's NextRequest portal is for county-government records and does not replace the court clerk for case files.
The Durham records access page explains eCourts, judgment records, case records, divorce judgments, and transcript access.
That source is the local bridge between the statewide portal and the Durham courthouse counters.
Durham eCourts Field Inventory
The eCourts inventory gives concrete search fields for Durham County Clerk records. Use Smart Search for case information and records, Search Hearings for calendars, Make Payments for eligible obligations, and NC Judgment Search for judgment indexes. Advanced filters can narrow results when the portal exposes them.
| Field label | Type | Required | Durham notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart Search query | Text | Unspecified | Search by name, case number, attorney, citation, and more. |
| Location | Filter | Optional | Select Durham County when filtering by county or location. |
| Party name | Text | Optional | Wildcard guidance requires at least three last-name characters and one first-name character plus an asterisk. |
| Date of birth | Date | Optional | Shown under party search criteria. |
| Case type | Dropdown | Optional | Civil Actions, Special Proceedings, Estates, and Criminal Actions are named categories. |
| Case status | Dropdown | Optional | Status filter exists, but static source did not expose every option. |
| Filing date range | Date range | Optional | Useful for narrowing older searches. |
| Buttons | Button | n/a | Smart Search, Search Hearings, Make Payments, NC Judgment Search. |
Request Certified Durham Copies
A certified copy is the Clerk's attested copy of a court record, often needed for agencies, licensing, legal filings, appeals, name changes, or proof of disposition. Portal search results are useful for finding case details, but a certified copy must come from the Clerk record holder. Durham divorce judgments, criminal dispositions, civil judgments, estate letters, and other court documents may require different rooms.
- Find the case number, party names, case type, and filing or judgment date through eCourts, a public terminal, or a prior notice.
- Identify the right Clerk department, such as Civil, Judgments, Superior Criminal, District Criminal/Traffic, Estates, or Special Proceedings.
- Ask whether the document is public, restricted, sealed, or available only to a party or attorney.
- Confirm current copy and certification fees before mailing payment or visiting the courthouse.
- For mail payments, use a money order or certified check payable to Durham County Clerk of Superior Court when that payment method applies.
Durham Request Form Fields
Durham County has two different online record channels in the research. The court clerk uses eCourts and clerk counters for court files. Durham County's NextRequest portal is for county-government records and is not the right channel for court case files, but it is still relevant when the record belongs to a county department rather than the court.
| Field or detail | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Helpful | Use the Enterprise Justice format when known. |
| Party names | Yes for most searches | Include spelling variants if the case number is unknown. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include divorce judgment, criminal disposition, estate inventory, order, or judgment. |
| Case type or department | Helpful | Civil, family, criminal, traffic, estates, special proceedings, or judgments. |
| Contact information | Yes for requests | Email or phone helps the office resolve fee or access questions. |
| Copy type | Yes | State whether plain, certified, or exemplified copy is needed if known. |
The Durham County public records request page leads to county records outside the court file system.
NextRequest is valuable for county records, but Durham court files remain a Clerk of Superior Court matter.
Durham Clerk Fee Payment
The research captured payment rules rather than a full current copy-fee table. Mail payment for fees, fines, and traffic matters may be made by money order or certified check only. The Durham payment source says no cash and no personal checks by mail. Mail payments are payable to Durham County Clerk of Superior Court and sent to the courthouse address. If paying an eligible traffic citation by mail, include the citation number.
| Item | Fee or payment rule |
|---|---|
| Court copies | Fee applies; confirm current copy and certification amount with the Clerk. |
| Divorce judgment copy | Available for a fee from Durham Clerk if the divorce was in Durham County. |
| Mail payment method | Money order or certified check only; no cash or personal checks by mail. |
| Mail payment payee | Durham County Clerk of Superior Court. |
| Mail payment address | Clerk of Superior Court, Durham County Courthouse, 510 S. Dillard Street, Durham, NC 27701. |
| Traffic citation mail payment | Include citation number if eligible to pay by mail. |
Durham Clerk Forms Online
Durham local rules and forms cover Superior Court, District Court, Domestic Court, and Juvenile Court. Local form examples include notice of address change, notice of appearance, calendar request, notice of hearing, motion and order to continue, objection to continuance, extension of time, pre-arbitration submission, domestic affidavit for judicial assignment, domestic calendar request, peremptory setting, and emergency custody consideration. These are court-management forms, not Register of Deeds forms.
The Durham NextRequest portal is the online county request platform captured in the research inventory.
The portal distinction is important: county administrative records can use NextRequest, but court records use Clerk and eCourts channels.
Note: The NC Judicial Branch warns that formal background-check users should work through the Clerk rather than relying only on portal results.