This Office is the only one which is not a part of the main administration of the Mayor and Business Administrator; it is the staff for the legislative branch (Town Council).

• Serves as executive secretary to the Town Council
• Prepares and files Town Council Agendas (link to current agenda) and Minutes
• Maintains ordinances, resolutions and contracts
• Registers voters and supervises the handling of elections
• Issues various permits and licenses required under state statute and local ordinance
• Serves as the Registrar of vital statistics

The Clerk is one of the three municipal employees who is an officer of Morristown, the Corporation. He or she serves as Secretary of the Corporation, while the Treasurer retains the position of Treasurer in the Corporation and the Mayor serves as the Corporation President.

The Clerk's Office serves many vital municipal functions, perhaps the most noticeable to residents being its capacity as the first line information agency for the entire Town. This involves the Clerk's being the keeper of the history of the municipality and as the keeper of the Town's Record; he or she is often called "the Corporate Memory" for Morristown, the corporation. Since historical information is meant to be objective, ideal functioning of this Office would involve the Clerk's retaining absolute political objectivity; this would make the Office the most effective, for it should be the least political of all municipal offices.

Another function of the Office is its acting as the responsible agency for the conduct of municipal elections. In this capacity, the Clerk answers to the County Clerk who, in turn, ultimately answers to the Secretary of State.

The Clerk also maintains all official records of the municipality, such as minutes, ordinances, resolutions, and all other official documents.

Additionally, he or she creates the agenda for all Council meetings under the superivision of the Council President, deciding what will be discussed. All requests from the public, departments heads, and Council members to schedule items into the agenda go through this Office. Once something is discussed and decided upon by the Council, their actions are recorded by the Clerk, who will then inform all interested parties of what occurred.

Every 10 years, on the basis of the Federal census, all Congressional districts are re-balanced in terms of population. The Clerk serves as Ward Commissioner and, once every 10 years, along with four other commissioners, may redraw Ward lines, if necessary. District lines may also be redrawn on the same basis.

The Office of Vital Statistics is operated through this Office as well. It performs functions such as issuing marriage licenses; animal licenses; and copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates.

A major function of the Office of the Town Clerk, and one with which residents are likely to be familiar, is that of licensing.

Among others, licenses and permits are issued in Morristown for: billiard parlors, liquor establishments, taxis and liveries, newspaper vending machines, theaters (i.e. - Headquarters Plaza) on a per seat fee, charitable solicitations, raffles and bingo, auctions, amusement games, residential parking, going-out-of-business sales, mobile restaurants, peddling, handbills, and parades

The ABC (Alcohol Beverage Commission) licenses are quite substantial in Town, 45 at present, to be precise. Liquor licenses are limited on a population basis; there are rarely new retail consumption (bars and restaurants) or retail distribution (liquor stores, etc.) licenses issued.  

The Office of the Clerk is just that, an "Office". As it is not a "Department", per se, it has no official Division heads, though it has different divisions which reflect its different functions. Among these are Records Manager, Licensing, and Vital Statistics.

The Clerk is the oldest official in U.S. Government; the Office predates the Constitution and, is the oldest recorded office in the West.