Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk Records

The Circuit Court Clerk Office

Larry L. Henry serves as the Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk. The office sits inside the Hamilton County Courthouse on Georgia Avenue in downtown Chattanooga. Henry serves as clerk for two courts at once. He is the clerk for Circuit Court, and he is also the clerk for the General Sessions Court Civil Division. That dual role is why one office answers questions about two very different sets of civil files.

The clerk's job is record keeping at its core. The office takes in documents tied to lawsuits, such as petitions, summons, warrants, and subpoenas. It logs each filing, sets it on the docket, and keeps the file as the case moves. Staff also collect and account for the money a case generates, then route it to the right place.

Anyone can reach the office by phone or in person during posted hours. The contact card below lists the address, phone, fax, and hours published by the county for this office.

What the Circuit Court Clerk Handles

The office covers more ground than most people expect. It is not just a filing desk. The clerk manages money, manages the jury system, and keeps the record for both Circuit Court and Sessions Civil. Circuit Court hears appeals from lower courts, contract disputes, civil torts, condemnations, workers' compensation, name changes, adoptions, and domestic matters such as divorce. Sessions Civil handles smaller civil claims and detainers.

Money work is a big part of the day. The clerk collects, receipts, and accounts for litigation taxes, child support payments, court costs, and fines. That means a single office tracks the dollars flowing in and out of a wide range of cases.

The clerk also runs the county's jury data. The office keeps jury records and handles juror assignment, and it does so for three courts, not one. Below is a short list of the main duties this office carries.

• File lawsuits and related papers like petitions, summons, warrants, and subpoenas
• Keep the official docket and case file for Circuit Court and General Sessions Civil
• Collect litigation taxes, child support payments, court costs, and fines
• Maintain jury data and assign jurors for Circuit, Criminal, and Chancery courts
• Issue certified copies of civil filings and judgments on request

If your case is criminal or estate related, a different office holds it. The Criminal Court Clerk and the other county clerks cover those records.

Searching Through TennesseeCaseFinder

TennesseeCaseFinder is the web tool the Circuit Court Clerk points the public to for case lookups. The county describes it as the Circuit Court's web-based court case information service. It is meant to give the same case information you could find at the courthouse counter, as it relates to Circuit Court and the General Sessions Court Civil Division. The county page says the service is free to the user and that all data is available right away once the clerk enters it.

There is a catch worth knowing before you start. The local county page calls the service free and immediate, but the live portal screen shows a government login with email and password fields. So the promoted free public inquiry and the actual login screen do not always match. Plan to sign up or log in if the portal asks for it.

The promotional copy says you can search by party name, file date, attorney name, and more. The login screen itself shows the fields in the table below.

You can open the tool from the Circuit Court Clerk TennesseeCaseFinder page or go straight to TennesseeCaseFinder. The county court system landing page also links every clerk and portal from one place at hamiltontn.gov/courts.

How to Request a Certified Copy

An online printout is fine for a quick look, but it is not the official document. Courts, lenders, and agencies want a certified copy. A certified copy carries the clerk's stamp and proves the document is a true copy of what the office holds. For a Circuit Court or Sessions Civil case, you request that copy from the Circuit Court Clerk.

The steps below outline a clean way to get one. Call ahead first, since the office sets its own current fee and tells you how it wants payment.

1. Find the case number through TennesseeCaseFinder, or have the full party names and the filing year ready.
2. Call the Circuit Court Clerk at 423-209-6700 to confirm the document exists and to ask the current fee.
3. Submit your request in person at 500 Courthouse, 625 Georgia Avenue, or ask the office how to send it by mail.
4. Pay the fee the clerk quotes, and state how many certified copies you need.
5. Pick up the certified copy, or wait for it to arrive by mail if you requested it that way.

Keep the certified copy in a safe place. Replacing one means paying the fee again.

Circuit Court Clerk Fees

Fees for copies, searches, and filings change over time, and the county does not publish a fixed Circuit Court Clerk fee table on the pages reviewed for this office. Because of that, the smart move is to call the office for the current amount before you go. Do not rely on a figure you saw somewhere else. The clerk's staff can quote the cost for a plain copy, a certified copy, or a record search on the day you ask.

The same is true for civil filing fees and litigation taxes. Those amounts depend on the case type and on current state and county schedules. The office collects them and can tell you what applies to your matter.

What a Circuit Court Case File Shows

A civil case file held by this office tracks the people, the claim, and the events of a lawsuit. The fields you see depend on the case, but the core data stays steady across files. Knowing the field names helps you read a record without guessing what each line means.

The table below lists common fields found in Hamilton County civil and Sessions civil case records.

For a fuller walk through every record system in the county, see the main Hamilton County court records page.

Visiting the Clerk in Person

Some tasks are easier face to face. You may want a certified copy the same day, or you may need help finding a case the portal does not surface. The Circuit Court Clerk's office is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except on posted holidays. It sits at 500 Courthouse inside the Hamilton County Courthouse, 625 Georgia Avenue, Chattanooga.

Bring what you have. A case number speeds things up, but a full first and last name plus a filing year also works. Be ready to pay a copy or certification fee, and ask staff about the payment methods they accept that day. Downtown Chattanooga road work shifts traffic often, so confirm your route and parking before you head out.

The Georgia Avenue courthouse handles civil Circuit and Sessions civil business. Criminal and General Sessions criminal work runs out of the Courts Building on Market Street instead.

Related Hamilton County Resources

If your matter is criminal, estate, or marriage related, start with the Criminal Court Clerk and county clerk offices. To learn how the trial courts divide the work, see the Hamilton County Circuit Court page. For daily hearing schedules, check court dockets, and for the full record search overview, see court records.