New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Judiciary Law § 255 (2026)

Clerk must search files upon request and certify as to result

✓ current as of May 2026

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§ 255. Clerk must search files upon request and certify as to result.
A clerk of a court must, upon request, and upon payment of, or offer to
pay, the fees allowed by law, or, if no fees are expressly allowed by
law, fees at the rate allowed to a county clerk for a similar service,
diligently search the files, papers, records, and dockets in his office;
and either make one or more transcripts or certificates of change
therefrom, and certify to the correctness thereof, and to the search, or
certify that a document or paper, of which the custody legally belongs
to him, can not be found.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1985–2024 · leading case: Matter of Cafferty v. Mihalko, 2020 NY Slip Op 2310 (N.Y. App. Div. 2020).

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Matter of Cafferty v. Mihalko, 2020 NY Slip Op 2310 (N.Y. App. Div. 2020). · cites it 5× “), entered May 28, 2019 in Broome County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, to compel respondent to comply with Judiciary Law § 255. In 1998, the County of Broome commenced a tax foreclosure proceeding against petitioner's…”

Lewandowski v. Off. of Court Admin., 173 Misc. 2d 335 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1997). · cites it 3× “It would appear that the transcript, once filed with the clerk of the court, becomes a "paper” or "record”, required to be produced pursuant to Judiciary Law § 255. The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals is the chief judicial officer of the Unified Court System (see, Judiciary…”

Herald Co. v. Roy, 107 A.D.2d 515 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985). “Moreover, access to the minute books maintained by the clerks of Criminal Parts may be obtained not by virtue of the provisions of Judiciary Law § 255-b but because the books must be kept pursuant to CPLR, 9702 (5) and searched and certified by the court clerks pursuant to…”

People v. Sykes, 167 Misc. 2d 588 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1995). “The "special provision of law” clause of that section 6 is satisfied by Judiciary Law § 255, which directs a court clerk to furnish upon request a certified transcript of his records (see, People v Kollore, supra [CPLR 4520 satisfied by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 354, which…”

People v. Hodges, 26 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1123 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1997). “) Judiciary Law § 255 does not expressly provide for disclosure of the entire contents of documents in court files; it provides that on request the clerk must search the files and prepare a certified "transcript” — a term consistent with an inventory — from the files.”

Matter of Herrick v. Town of Colonie, 2022 NY Slip Op 06848 (N.Y. App. Div. 2022). · cites it 2× “The relevant provision for our purposes is Judiciary Law § 255, which directs the clerk of a court to, "upon request, .”

Jones v. Dist. Attorney's Off. of New York, 33 Misc. 3d 462 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2011). · cites it 6× “By letter dated October 1, 2009, the DANY denied petitioner’s request on the ground that Judiciary Law § 255 only applies to court clerks and not to district attorneys, and informed him that he may appeal the denial to the appeals officer.”

Matter of Clayton v. Chemung Cnty. Dist. Attorney Weeden Wetmore, 2021 NY Slip Op 03886 (N.Y. App. Div. 2021). · cites it 3× “), entered October 23, 2019 in Chemung County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, to review a determination of respondent denying petitioner's Freedom of Information Law request and to compel respondent to comply with Judiciary…”

Angiolillo v. Christie's, Inc. (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2019). · cites it 2× “Accordingly, Judiciary Law §§ 255 and 255-b mandate that court records and docket books be available to the public.”

Johnson v. McKay, 2017 NY Slip Op 5137 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017). “mplicate the same concerns as mail from an attorney, even if the county clerk is writing as clerk of the court (see County Law § 525 [1]), as it does not come from “someone who can provide legal advice about a prisoner’s rights” and involves matters of public record (Sallier v…”

Matter of Ritter v. Binghamton City Ct., 2019 NY Slip Op 3863 (N.Y. App. Div. 2019). “The record establishes that respondents are satisfying their duties under Judiciary Law §§ 255 and 255-b by maintaining electronic docketing systems that are available for search and examination by members of the public with the assistance of court staff.”

Matter of Cyprium Therapeutics, Inc. (Curia Global, Inc.), 2024 NY Slip Op 00115 (N.Y. App. Div. 2024). “, 156 AD3d 1364, 1365 [4th Dept 2017] [internal quotation marks, brackets, ellipsis and citations omitted]; see Judiciary Law §§ 255, 255-b; Mosallem v Berenson , 76 AD3d 345 , 348 [1st Dept 2010]).”

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