Pa. high court allows Philadelphia’s Evers to continue on as both FJD prothonotary and clerk of courts

Joseph Evers, a veteran of Philadelphia’s court system, will continue to

simultaneously carry out his duties as both prothonotary and clerk of courts for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania.

In a brief, one-paragraph order issued on Sept. 24, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court extended the time by which Evers could take on the dual roles until further notice from the court.

The move was done to “further streamline operations of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania,” the high court’s order states.

The position of prothonotary, a throwback to an earlier era, is essentially the clerk of courts for the civil division.

Evers, who has worked for the FJD, better known as Philadelphia’s court system, for more than four decades, became the clerk of courts for the criminal division after the FJD took over those responsibilities following the elimination of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, which was an independently elected position dating back to colonial times.

The position was abolished through legislation in 2010, which was spurred by talk of poor record keeping and mismanagement.

The Supreme Court appointed Evers, who is in his late 50s, to the position of court administrator for the FJD back in the spring.

Evers has been the prothonotary in Philadelphia since the mid-1990s.

During the course of his career, he has served as deputy prothonotary, data processing coordinator for the Prothonotary’s Office, and assistant supervisor and data entry clerk in the civil division of both the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court and Municipal Court, both of which are part of the FJD.

As court administrator, which is the highest non-judicial leadership position in a county’s court system, Evers provides management for various service centers comprising the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania.

Evers will remain as prothonotary until the FJD’s judges elect a person to replace him in the post.