Rule 79.Records Kept by the Clerk

Last amended December 1, 2007 · Last verified June 30, 2026

In one sentenceRule 79 requires the clerk to keep a civil docket, a record of judgments and orders, and indexes, and specifies what each must show — the entries that mark when actions are taken and when judgments are entered.

Full Text of Rule 79

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d)

(a) Civil Docket.

(1) In General. The clerk must keep a record known as the “civil docket” in the form and manner prescribed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts with the approval of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The clerk must enter each civil action in the docket. Actions must be assigned consecutive file numbers, which must be noted in the docket where the first entry of the action is made.

(2) Items to be Entered. The following items must be marked with the file number and entered chronologically in the docket:

(A) papers filed with the clerk;

(B) process issued, and proofs of service or other returns showing execution; and

(3) Contents of Entries; Jury Trial Demanded. Each entry must briefly show the nature of the paper filed or writ issued, the substance of each proof of service or other return, and the substance and date of entry of each order and judgment. When a jury trial has been properly demanded or ordered, the clerk must enter the word “jury” in the docket.

(b) Civil Judgments and Orders. The clerk must keep a copy of every final judgment and appealable order; of every order affecting title to or a lien on real or personal property; and of any other order that the court directs to be kept. The clerk must keep these in the form and manner prescribed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts with the approval of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

(1) keep indexes of the docket and of the judgments and orders described in Rule 79(b); and

(2) prepare calendars of all actions ready for trial, distinguishing jury trials from nonjury trials.

(d) Other Records. The clerk must keep any other records required by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts with the approval of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

End

Amendment History

(Amended December 27, 1946, effective March 19, 1948; December 29, 1948, effective October 20, 1949; January 21, 1963, effective July 1, 1963; April 30, 2007, effective December 1, 2007.)

Plain-English Summary

Rule 79 is the recordkeeping backbone of a federal case. The clerk must keep a civil docket for each action, entering each paper filed, each process issued and its return, each appearance, each order, verdict, and judgment, with the date noted. Those dated entries are what later fix deadlines and prove what happened and when.

The clerk also keeps a separate record of judgments and orders so they can be found and consulted, and maintains alphabetical indexes of the docket and judgment records. Together these records make the case file an authoritative, searchable history — the foundation that rules like Rule 58 (entering judgment) and Rule 77 (notice of entry) build on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the civil docket?

The clerk’s running, dated record of every filing, order, verdict, and judgment in a case, kept under Rule 79(a); the docket entries fix when actions occur.

Does the clerk keep anything besides the docket itself?

Yes. The clerk also keeps a separate record of judgments and orders, plus alphabetical indexes of the docket and judgment records, so the case history can be found and consulted.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. 79), a public-domain work of the U.S. Government. Prescribed by the United States Supreme Court under the Rules Enabling Act. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified June 30, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: FRCP 79Fed. R. Civ. P. 79records kept by the clerkcivil docketdocket entries