About the Hudson County Clerk
The Hudson County Clerk is a constitutional county office, separate from the courts. The current County Clerk is E. Junior Maldonado, whose office sits in the Hudson County Plaza on Cornelison Avenue in Jersey City. The office is the home for a wide set of public county records and services. It runs elections, issues passports, commissions notaries, files trade names, and keeps county archives. It also provides veteran ID services. None of these are court case files.
This office is one piece of the county records picture. The County Register records land documents. The Surrogate handles probate. The County Clerk fills the gap for general public records, business filings, and civic services. The contact card below shows where to reach the Hudson County Clerk.
Hudson County Clerk
Clerk: E. Junior Maldonado
Hudson County Plaza, 257 Cornelison Avenue, 4th Floor
Jersey City, NJ 07302
201-369-3470, option 3
countyclerk@hcnj.us
What the Hudson County Clerk Handles
The Hudson County Clerk keeps and issues a broad range of non-court records. Many residents only deal with the office once, perhaps to get a passport or register a small business name. Knowing the full list helps you aim a Hudson County Clerk records request at the right desk. The duties below are the core of the office.
- Run county elections and keep election records
- Accept passport applications and take passport photos
- Commission notaries public for the county
- File trade names and business certificates
- Keep public records and county archives
- Provide veteran ID services
None of these touch active court litigation. A divorce, a lawsuit, or a criminal docket is a court file, not a County Clerk record. For court case files, see the Hudson Clerk of Court page, which explains how Judiciary records are requested.
The County Clerk also keeps older county records in its archives. Historic deeds, maps, and county filings can be researched there. The office is the keeper of the official county seal and certifies certain county documents. For trade names, a person doing business under a name other than their own files a certificate here, which makes the business name part of the public record.
The Hudson County Register of Deeds
Real-property records are not held by the County Clerk in Hudson County. They are held by the County Register of Deeds and Mortgages. The Register is Jeffrey Dublin, and the office records and preserves deeds, mortgages, assignments, liens, and related land instruments. Anyone buying, selling, or researching property in Hudson County will deal with this office. Recorded documents become part of the permanent public record.
The Register keeps its own counter hours and payment rules. The cashier and search areas open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Phone customer service runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Checks for recording and copies are made payable to "Hudson County Register." The contact card below has the details.
Hudson County Register of Deeds and Mortgages
Register: Jeffrey Dublin
257 Cornelison Avenue, 2nd Floor
Jersey City, NJ 07302
201-395-4760
Hudsonregisters@hcnj.us
Cashier & search: Mon-Fri 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Phone hours: Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Hudson County Register Online Search
The Register runs a free online records search called Acclaim. It lets the public look up recorded land documents by several categories. You do not have to visit Jersey City to start a search, though images and details may need cookies and JavaScript turned on. The office advises searching all spelling variations of a name, since one misspelling can hide a record. The table lists the Acclaim search fields.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Search category | Optional | Grantor and/or grantee party name; try all spellings. |
| Book/Page | Search category | Optional | Combined book type, number, and page search. |
| Instrument # | Search category | Optional | Search by a single instrument number. |
| Legal Description | Search category | Optional | Lot, block, municipality, or address lookup. |
| Doc Type | Search category | Optional | Search by one or more document types. |
| Consideration | Search category | Optional | Upper and lower price range. |
| Record Date | Search category | Optional | Search a single day of records. |
The county provides Acclaim as a public service and gives no warranty on accuracy. To run a search, visit the Hudson Register Acclaim portal. Note: enable JavaScript and cookies and allow pop-ups, or the interactive search and image viewing may not load.
Acclaim also lets you control how results show. Support documents describe options to resize result columns, print a document detail page, print a full search report, and zoom the browser view. The Settings menu can auto-load images and open them as PDF files. A login appears in the navigation, but public searching does not require an account; the login is for added features.
Hudson County Recording Alerts
The Register runs a free Recording Notification Service to guard against property fraud. You sign up with an email and the name you want watched. When a document is recorded under that name, the service emails an alert. It is a simple way to catch a forged deed or a surprise lien early. Business owners can monitor company names, including LLC variations.
| Field Label | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Enter Email Address | Yes | Used for alerts; may be subject to public disclosure. |
| Re-Enter Email Address | Yes | Confirmation field. |
| Select Identity Type | Yes | Name is the monitored identifying information. |
| Name | Yes | Exact monitored name, such as DOE JOHN or DOE JOHN MICHAEL. |
| Sign Up | Yes | Starts the email activation process. |
You can add more than one identity to watch and update or unsubscribe later. Sign up through the recording notification service. Note: the alert flags a recording, so confirm any suspicious filing with the Register before you assume fraud.
The Hudson County Surrogate
The third constitutional office that handles records is the County Surrogate. The Surrogate manages probate of wills, administration of estates when there is no will, short certificates, and guardianships of minors. Routine estate work begins here. Contested wills and formal probate litigation move to the Superior Court Chancery Division, Probate Part.
So a will filed for probate is a Surrogate record, not a County Clerk record. For the full picture on estates, wills, and how to search probate files, see the Hudson County probate records page.
What Is Not a Hudson County Clerk Record
The most common mistake is treating the County Clerk as a court clerk. They are different offices with different records. Court case files, criminal dockets, divorce judgments, and civil lawsuits are New Jersey Judiciary records. They do not pass through the County Clerk at all. Sending a court request here only slows you down.
Important: Court case files are not held by the Hudson County Clerk; those are Judiciary records requested through the courts, explained on the Clerk of Court page.
Use this quick split to route a request. Land documents go to the Register. Estates and wills go to the Surrogate. Elections, trade names, notary commissions, and passports go to the County Clerk. Active court cases go to the Judiciary. Broader open-records questions are covered on the public records page.
Open Records From the Hudson County Clerk
Many County Clerk and county department records fall under the Open Public Records Act, the state's public records law. Hudson County accepts these requests through an online OPRA portal linked from the county homepage. A requester names the record, and the custodian responds within the statutory time. Court records are the exception; they follow Judiciary rules, not OPRA.
For business and civic records held by the County Clerk, an OPRA request through the county is usually the right path. The Hudson County additional offices page links the County Clerk, Register, Surrogate, and other constitutional offices in one place. For vital-record needs tied to families, see the marriage and divorce records page, which covers where certified marriage and divorce documents come from.
OPRA sets a response window and a process for appeals. If a county custodian denies a request, the requester can challenge it. New Jersey amended OPRA in recent years, changing some request and fee rules, so confirm current procedure through the official county portal rather than older guides. Recording fees and copy fees at the Register are published in official fee schedules; checks there are made payable to "Hudson County Register."