Stephens County Court Clerk

About the Stephens County Court Clerk

Dana Blevins serves as the Stephens County Court Clerk. The office sits inside the Stephens County Courthouse in Duncan. Oklahoma counties elect a Court Clerk to run the filing system for the local District Court. The clerk and the staff log every new case, stamp each filing, and keep the docket current. They also collect court fees, issue process, and guard the official file. When a case closes, the record stays with the clerk for the public to view.

The Court Clerk is the front door to Stephens County court records. Lawyers file here. Judges rely on the file the clerk keeps. The public comes here for copies, case numbers, and answers a website cannot give. The office handles paper and electronic records for civil, criminal, family, probate, and small-claims cases. Marriage licenses and protective orders also start at this counter, which makes the office one of the busiest in the courthouse.

What the Stephens County Court Clerk Handles

The Court Clerk touches almost every state-court matter in the county. Felony and misdemeanor cases run through this office. So do divorces, custody disputes, and paternity suits. Probate estates, guardianships, and trust filings are logged here too. Traffic cases filed in District Court, not city tickets, sit in the same system. The clerk does not decide cases. It keeps the record straight and keeps it open to the public.

A few core duties define the job. They cover filing, fees, and the records the court generates day to day.

• File and stamp pleadings, motions, and orders for District Court cases
• Maintain the docket and case index for civil, criminal, family, and probate matters
• Issue marriage licenses and accept probate and guardianship filings
• Collect filing fees, fines, and court costs set by state law
• Prepare and certify copies of court documents on request
• Issue summons, subpoenas, and other court process

Note: the Court Clerk records what the court does, but the office cannot give legal advice or tell a person how a case will turn out.

Court Clerk vs County Clerk in Stephens County

Two clerks share the Stephens County Courthouse, and people often mix them up. The Court Clerk handles court cases. The County Clerk handles land. That single line clears up most of the confusion. Jenny Moore is the Stephens County County Clerk. Dana Blevins is the Court Clerk. Each one keeps a very different set of records, and each has its own phone line and counter.

The County Clerk records deeds, mortgages, liens, and other instruments tied to property. None of those are court cases. The County Clerk runs a separate online portal for land index books that reach far back in county history. For deeds, mortgages, and recorded documents, the Stephens County County Clerk is the right office, not the Court Clerk.

The County Clerk's Kofile QuickLink portal lists index books for deeds and mortgages back to 1902 and miscellaneous records to 1913.

That land portal sits apart from the court system, so a deed search there will never show a court case. For a divorce, a criminal charge, or a probate estate, the Court Clerk and the state court portals hold the file. Send land questions to the County Clerk and court questions to the Court Clerk.

Searching Stephens County Court Records

Most Stephens County court records are searchable online for free. Two state systems carry them. The Oklahoma State Courts Network, called OSCN, runs the main docket search. On Demand Court Records, called ODCR, is the second path. Both list Stephens County District Court in their court menus. Neither one charges a fee to read a docket.

Start with OSCN for almost any case. Pick Stephens County District Court, then search by name or case number. Add a birth-date range or a party type to narrow a common name. Choose a case type such as Criminal Felony, Family and Domestic, or Probate to trim the list. If a file does not show on OSCN, try ODCR with the court set to Stephens.

The OSCN dockets landing page links the docket search, the list of available records, and help for users.

These portals show docket entries, parties, hearing dates, and dispositions. They do not produce certified copies, so an official document still comes from the Court Clerk. Note: OSCN and ODCR can show different docket detail for the same case, so checking both is wise when a record is old or hard to find.

Court Records the Stephens County Court Clerk Maintains

The Court Clerk groups cases by type, and each type carries a short prefix on its case number. Reading the prefix helps a searcher guess what a case involves before opening it. The table below lists common Stephens County case types and what each one covers. A prefix alone can mislead, so always read the full docket before drawing a conclusion.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy is an official court document the clerk stamps and signs. Courts, employers, and agencies accept it as proof. A printout from OSCN or ODCR is not certified and may be turned away. When a matter is formal, a certified copy from the Stephens County Court Clerk is what carries weight. The office can certify divorce decrees, probate orders, judgments, and many other filings.

The request follows a simple path. These four steps cover it from start to finish.

1. Find the case number first. Look it up on OSCN or ODCR by party name, or call the Court Clerk for help.
2. Tell the clerk which document you need and how many certified copies. Be exact about the case and the filing.
3. Submit the request at the counter, by phone, or by mail, and pay the copy and certification fee the clerk quotes.
4. Pick the copies up in person, or have them mailed if you sent a written request with payment.

Note: bring a photo ID and the case number to the counter, since both speed the request and cut down on back-and-forth with the office.

Stephens County Records Request Form Fields

A clean request gives the clerk what it needs to pull the right file. Whether the request is spoken at the counter or written for a mail order, the same details apply. The table below shows the fields a Stephens County court records request should carry. A missing case number is the most common cause of delay.

Court Clerk Copy Fees in Stephens County

Copy fees at the Stephens County Court Clerk are set by the office and by state law. Current Stephens-specific court copy amounts are not posted on a public county page, so the clerk quotes them on request. Ask for the plain-copy rate, the per-page certified rate, and any search fee before you pay. Fees can differ for a long file or an older record pulled from storage.

Sheriff records are a different matter handled by a different office. Arrest, booking, and incident reports come from the Stephens County Sheriff's Records Division, which posts its own fee list. The sheriff's records page lists charges such as one dollar for a first page and fifty cents for added pages, but those cover law-enforcement files, not court copies. For any court document, the Court Clerk sets the charge and notes it before payment.

Open Records Act and the Stephens County Court Clerk

Oklahoma law backs public access to court and county records. The Oklahoma Open Records Act, found at 51 O.S. Section 24A.5, treats most government records as open unless a statute makes them confidential. Section 24A.6 says public bodies must allow inspection and copying during business hours. When a record is not online, the Act is the fallback for getting it.

A few records stay closed. Juvenile, adoption, mental-health, sealed, and expunged files are not open to the public. The clerk redacts Social Security numbers, account numbers, and protected personal details from what it releases. For a record the portals do not show, the channels below are the way through.

• Search OSCN and ODCR for District Court case files and dockets
• Visit or call the Stephens County Court Clerk at (580) 470-2000 for copies and older files
• Request a certified copy for any official or legal use
• Use the Oklahoma Open Records Act for county records that are not posted online

Note: the Court Clerk may withhold sealed or confidential parts of a file even when the rest of the case is public under the Open Records Act.