About the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court
The Clerk of Court runs the records side of the Spartanburg County Court. The clerk is Amy W. Cox. She was born and raised in Spartanburg County and graduated from Paul M. Dorman High School. She earned a business degree from USC Upstate and a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Before she took this office, she worked as an Assistant Solicitor in Richland County, where she prosecuted domestic-violence cases. She also served as Associate Probate Judge for Spartanburg County.
Governor Henry McMaster appointed Cox as Clerk of Court on January 22, 2019. In South Carolina, every county has a Clerk of Court, and the post is normally a popularly elected one with a four-year term. The clerk serves both Circuit Court and Family Court. That dual role is the key thing to know. One office holds the civil files, the criminal files, and the family files for the whole county.
Spartanburg County Clerk of Court
Clerk: Amy W. Cox
180 Magnolia St, 2nd Floor, Suite 2100
Spartanburg, SC 29306
Mailing: PO Box 3483, Spartanburg, SC 29304
864-596-2591
Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The office sits on the second floor of the new judicial center on Magnolia Street. Doors open to the public at 8:30 a.m. on weekdays, except holidays, and close at 5:00 p.m. Some services end earlier in the day, so call before a late trip.
What the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court Does
The clerk's work touches almost every case in the building. The office builds and manages dockets. It takes in filings, collects money owed to the court, and keeps the official case files. It also handles jury matters and several reporting duties tied to state court rules. In Family Court, the clerk processes support payments and issues a Rule to Show Cause when a party falls behind on child support.
Here are the core duties the office carries out for the Spartanburg County Court.
- Manage trial dockets for Circuit and Family Court.
- Take fees, fines, and court costs.
- Keep and certify court case records.
- Handle jury summons and juror questions.
- Process child-support payments in Family Court.
The office does not give legal advice. Staff can hand you a form and explain how to file it, but they cannot tell you what to write or predict how a judge will rule. For income-based help, the county points people to legal aid and the Public Defender.
Clerk of Court Divisions and Contacts
The Clerk of Court splits its work across three trial dockets. General Sessions covers crimes. Common Pleas covers civil suits. Family Court covers domestic cases. Each division has its own filing rules and its own staff contacts, and the county lists them on the Clerk page. The table below sorts out who handles what.
| Division | Handles | Filing Note |
|---|---|---|
| General Sessions | Criminal cases prosecuted by the Solicitor | Defendants must keep the Clerk updated on address changes |
| Common Pleas | Civil suits, contracts, injury, foreclosure | E-filing required where it applies; some fee-exempt filings may be emailed |
| Family Court | Divorce, custody, child support, juvenile | Fee-exempt filings may be emailed; fee filings are mailed to the division |
For Common Pleas, filings that do not need a fee and are exempt from e-filing can be emailed to staff, while fee filings exempt from e-filing get mailed in. Family Court works the same way. Trial and plea hearing questions in General Sessions and hearing questions in Family Court each route to a named staff member on the Clerk page.
The Circuit Court page breaks down how Common Pleas and General Sessions fit into the larger court system.
How to Request a Certified Copy
A certified copy is an official copy the clerk stamps and signs. Courts, agencies, and many private parties will only accept a certified copy, not a plain printout from the public index. The clerk's records contact handles copies of General Sessions, Common Pleas, and Family Court records. The staff member listed for records is Allen Lee, and the records email is on the Clerk page.
The steps below cover most requests.
- Find the case number. Use the Spartanburg Public Index to look it up by party name if you do not have it.
- Contact the Clerk's records staff by phone or email to confirm the document and the cost.
- Send the request with party names, the case number, and the document you want.
- Pay the copy and certification fee by the method the office accepts.
- Pick up the copy in person or wait for it by mail.
Marriage license copies are not handled here. Those come from Probate Court for a flat fee.
Note: A plain copy or a screen print from the public index is not the same as a certified copy and will not be accepted for most legal or official uses.
Records Request Form Fields
When you ask the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court for a copy, give the office enough detail to find the file fast. A clear request cuts down on back-and-forth. The table lists the fields the clerk needs to pull and certify a record.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case Number | Helpful | Use the public index to find it if you lack it |
| Party Names | Yes | Full names help the clerk match the right file |
| Court Division | Yes | General Sessions, Common Pleas, or Family Court |
| Document Type | Yes | Order, judgment, full file, or a single filing |
| Number of Copies | Yes | Each certified copy carries its own cost |
| Return Method | Yes | Pickup or mail with a return envelope |
Family Court files often hold sealed parts. The clerk may release only the parts the law allows the public to see, and the rest stays closed.
The county also lists Clerk filing forms on its court forms page, which sorts packets by division.
The page groups Clerk, Common Pleas, Family Court, and pro se packets in one place, so you can pull the right form before you contact the records staff.
Spartanburg County Clerk Fees
Fees depend on the record and the service. The county does not post a full copy-fee schedule for the Clerk's office, so call to confirm a copy cost before you mail anything. A few related court fees are set by state law and are listed below. The marriage license copy fee is charged by Probate Court, not the Clerk.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certified copy of marriage license (Probate Court) | $5.00 per copy |
| Clerk expungement filing fee | $35 |
| Expungement solicitor administrative fee | $250 |
| SLED expungement verification | $25 |
| Pretrial intervention application | $100 |
| Other Clerk copy and search fees | Not published in researched sources |
Dismissals, acquittals, and no-bill cases are often exempt from expungement fees. Under the state Freedom of Information Act, copy charges must stay reasonable and cannot top the actual cost of the record.
Common Clerk Forms and Packets
The county hosts Clerk of Court forms in its online Form Center and on a dedicated court forms page. Many are address-change forms or pro se packets for people without a lawyer. The Name Change Packet is one of the most-used Clerk packets, and it warns that staff cannot give legal advice.
- County Form Center - Clerk address-change, defendant info, and jury forms.
- Name Change Packet - petition, affidavits, records check, and order forms.
- Court forms page - civil, Common Pleas, General Sessions, and Family Court packets.
Some forms must be printed, filled in, and mailed to the Payment Office. The court forms page marks those with a star. The Name Change Packet asks for an original plus one copy and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
The county's Name Change Packet page bundles every form a self-represented filer needs for an adult name change.
It includes the petition, two affidavits, a records-check form, a residency affidavit, and the order form, and it states plainly that clerk staff cannot give legal advice.
Mail, Email, and Online Filings
How you file depends on the division. Common Pleas uses e-filing where the rules require it. Filings that do not need a fee and are exempt from e-filing can be emailed to the named Common Pleas staffer. Fee filings that are exempt from e-filing get mailed in. Family Court allows fee-exempt filings by email and routes fee filings to the Family Court Division by mail.
Court fines and fees questions go to the payments staffer on the Clerk page. For records held online, start at the SC Judicial Branch Case Records Search and open the Spartanburg Public Index from there. Records not posted online still need a direct request to the Clerk.
Most county forms, including Clerk filings, run through the online County Form Center.
You pick a category, such as Clerk of Court or FOIA, then complete and submit the form online, which can speed up a routine records request.
Note: Free public parking is at the Library Street Parking Garage, and the courtyard walk plus security screening add time, so arrive early for in-person filing.
Public Defender and Legal Help
The Clerk takes filings but cannot give legal advice. People charged with a crime who cannot afford a lawyer can ask for the Spartanburg County Public Defender. That office is at 180 Magnolia Street, Suite 2137, with a mailing address of PO Box 5666, Spartanburg, SC 29304, and a phone line at 864-596-2561. The Circuit Public Defender is Michael D. Morin. Public defenders represent indigent defendants who face possible jail or prison time.
The county keeps a directory entry for the office with its address, phone, and hours.
The directory confirms the office hours and the circuit defender, which is useful before you call about a criminal case. Public defenders do not handle civil divorce, child support, or landlord-tenant matters.
The county also runs a dedicated form center for Public Defender paperwork.
Those forms support the application for appointed counsel. For criminal case files themselves, the arrest records page explains where charges and dispositions appear.