About The Clerk

Christopher J. Durkin was elected to the office of Essex County Clerk in November, 2005 and was officially sworn into office on January 1, 2006. Prior to taking office, Mr. Durkin served as the Director of Human Resources for the County of Essex under County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo. In 2002, he was also elected to the office of 2nd Vice-Chair of the Essex County Democratic Party under United States Congressman Donald M. Payne, Sr. and currently serves on the Essex County Democratic County Committee.

A graduate of Rutgers University, where he majored in Political Science, Durkin began his career in public service at the North Ward Cultural Center, where he taught Math and English and served as a Job Placement Officer to people going from welfare to work. Mr. Durkin continued his pursuit of educational excellence, successfully graduating from the Essex County Police Academy before becoming a detective with the Essex County Sheriff's Office. In 2001, Chris attained his Master's Degree in Human Resources, Training & Development from Seton Hall University. He has also successfully completed the County Election Official Training Program conducted by the prestigious Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. The Bloustein School serves as one of the nation’s key centers for the theory and practice of planning and public scholarship analysis.

Mr. Durkin has been appointed to the Board of Directors for the Saint Patrick's Guard of Honor and was an Executive Board Member to the American Red Cross from 2006 to 2012. In 2017, he was recognized by County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo as Essex County Irishman of the Year.

Born in Orange and raised in Maplewood, Mr. Durkin graduated from Columbia High School in 1987. He currently resides in West Caldwell with his wife, Danielle, and their three children.

Essex County Clerk's Office By The Numbers

  • $3,150,000

    Amount of money generated through processing fees of U.S. passports, Notary public oaths and county ID cards

  • 278,319

    Number of Vote by Mail Applications processed and Ballots sent to Essex County Voters

  • 212,523

    Number of Essex County Business Trade names scanned and now online at www.essexclerk.com

  • 38,733

    Number of U.S. passport applications processed by Essex County Clerk's Office

  • 18,099

    Number of Notary Public applicants sworn in.

  • 7,543

    Number of Essex County Residential Identification Cards processed

  • 6,714

    Number of Businesses registered by the County Clerk's Office

  • 5,422

    Number of Posters entered by Essex County 4th Graders into the "My Essex County" Poster Contest

  • 2,715

    Number of information requests from the public processed by the County Clerk's Office through the Open Public Records Act

  • 630

    Number of wedding ceremonies performed by County Clerk Chris Durkin

  • 77

    Number of schools visited by Chris Durkin to promote voting and the 'My Essex County Poster Contest'

  • 45

    Number of Physician License's filed with the County Clerk's Office

  • 20

    Number of Essex County municipalities that the Clerk's Office visits each month to process passports and notary publics

  • 8

    Number of County Clerk TV Episodes

  • 1

    Always putting Essex County FIRST!