Welcome from County Clerk Beth A. Rothermel and the staff of the Washington County Clerk's Office.  Our goal is to provide the citizens of Washington County and all those who utilize this office with a professional, friendly and useful office. We have tried to make this site as helpful and user friendly as you will find our office and staff if you visited our courthouse location. We encourage you to follow the links at the bottom of the page. These links cover all the County Clerk's varied areas of responsibilities. We also welcome any comments or suggestions you might have regarding this web page or our office.

The County Clerk's office is located in the Washington County Courthouse in Brenham, Texas. 

Our mailing address is:

Washington County Clerk
100 E. Main, Suite 102
Brenham, TX  77833

Our phone number is 979-277-6200

Below is a brief history and a description of a few of the many duties and responsibilities of this office. 

The office of County Clerk has been in existence in Texas since 1836, superseding the escribano (secretary) of Spanish-Mexican rule.  Section 20, Article 5 of the Texas Constitution provides for the office.

 Of all the various responsibilities assigned to the county clerk, the recording of legal instruments is perhaps the most traditional and basic duty.  In terms of sheer volume, legal instruments constitute the major portion of paperwork flowing through the office, requiring the greatest amount of storage space, and usually taking up a larger portion of the clerk's time than any other single duty. The complexity of the recording process, along with the volume of work and the many different types of instruments required to be filed in the clerk's office, places much responsibility on the clerk.

The county clerk also serves as court clerk to the commissioners' court and county court.  The clerk serves as ex-officio member of the Commissioners’ court, recording all proceedings.  The clerk also serves as clerk of court for the Washington County Court at Law.  The clerk files new cases, collects fees associated with cases and attends court. The clerk issues citations, writs, abstracts, judgments and impanels juries as required.  The clerk also approves bonds, administers oaths, issues subpoenas, and attends all court proceedings.

The clerk is the only official in the county authorized to issue, record and maintain birth and death certificates and marriage licenses.  The clerk submits monthly, quarterly and annual activity reports to the county and state, we are on call 24 hours a day for issuance of cremation and burial transfer permits.

The county clerk has extensive financial and fiduciary responsibilities and duties as county recorder, local registrar and clerk of court. Collections, since 1995 when the present clerk came into office, have increased by 50%.

The county clerk is also the elections administrator for elections held at the county's expense.  The county clerk is also chair of the County elections board.  The many responsibilities of this position include ordering ballots and related supplies, working closely with election judges, early voting ballot board and central counting station personnel, holding early voting in person and handling all ballots by mail abd advising the media of election activities.

The county clerk serves as records management officer for the office and is responsible for developing a records management program, administering this program efficiently and effectively, preparing and filing with the director and librarian of the Texas State Library, a records control schedule, identifying and ensuring the preservation of records of permanent value, identifying and ensuring the preservation of essential records and ensuring that records management activities are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Records Act and rules adopted under it. 

Search records on-line at www.edoctecinc.com

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