Clerk History


History of the Clerk of Courts
Roll Call of Polk County Clerks

The Florida Constitution of 1838 created the Clerk of the Circuit Court as a Public Trustee.  On February 8, 1861, the Legislature of the State of Florida established Polk County.

Polk County Clerks

The 1973 Florida Constitution created a unified Clerk of the Circuit Court after abolition of the Clerk of the Criminal Court of Record.  Polk County has had Three Clerks of the Circuit Court since 1973:

January 2013 - Present           Stacy Butterfield

August 1997 - January 2013   Richard M. Weiss
 
January 1973 - August 1997   E.D. "Bud" Dixon


The State Legislature created the Criminal Court of Record in 1923.  The following served as Clerk of the Criminal Court of Record for Polk County:

January 1969 - January 1973  E.D. "Bud" Dixon

April 1968 - January 1969   Warren O. Williams

January 1953 - February 1968  Robert Jacob Haslett

January 1933 - January 1953  Benjamin Lucian Durrance

October 1925 - January 1933  Loyd Clyde Olive

August 1923 - October 1925   Richard Webb Robnett


The following served as Clerks of the Circuit Court of Polk County as created by the Florida Constitution of 1838:

1965 - January 1973    Paul H. Vaughn

January 1937 - 1965    Daniel Henry Sloan, Jr.

January 1921- January 1937   John Derieux Raulerson

January 1912 - January 1921  James Allison Johnson

1899 - January 1912    Aaron Browning Ferguson

1885 - December 1898    William Hampton Johnson

1881 - January 1885    Stephen Irving Pearce

1877 - 1881     William Baker Varn

March 1873 - 1877    Nathan Snow Blount

January 1869 - March 1873   John Davidson

January 1866 - January 1869  William Baker Varn

January 1863 - January 1866  Jeremiah Madison Hayman

November 1861 - January 1863  Jehu Jacob Blount

Stacy M. Butterfield

CPA

Clerk of Courts

Contact Information

Address

Clerk of the Circuit Court

General Information

255 N Broadway Ave

Bartow, FL 33830

Map/Directions

Branch Locations

Phone

(863) 534-4000

Fax

(863) 534-4584

Email

"Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing."