Vivian T. Miller, the last person elected to the citywide office, resigned her $117,991-a-year position March 31 following intense criticism of both her staff and the very need for her agency.
The clerk's office, with 110 employees, maintains court records, staffs courtrooms, and collects and invests bail money and fines in criminal cases.
City and state auditors have long faulted the office for its handling of tens of millions of dollars in bail, fines, and court fees, including delays in paying the city and state their share of those funds.
Even before Miller agreed to quit, the Philadelphia court system took over most functions of her office - an action directed by Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Miller's resignation was brokered and announced by Nutter, but he had stopped short of saying he would seek to eliminate the office.
The clerk's office is the second major agency to be targeted by Nutter. He has also endorsed shutting down the Bureau of Revision of Taxes, the agency that sets values for property taxes.
While Council can abolish the clerk's office, voters must approve abolishing the BRT. A question seeking that approval is on the May 18 primary ballot.
Origins of the clerk's office coincide with the founding of the Pennsylvania colony. It became an elected position in 1838. The archaic name dates to 14th-century England, an age when justices of the peace in each county were required to meet quarterly at Epiphany, Easter, Midsummer, and Michaelmas.
Reform-oriented groups, including the Committee of Seventy and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Agency (PICA), have long called for an end to the office. They have urged that it be shuttered along with other row offices, such as the register of wills and the sheriff.
