The Mayor's Column

Getting to Know the Clerks Office

From overseeing elections in Monroe to being the Township Council’s Secretary, the Township Clerk’s Office is one of the busiest departments in the Township.

Township Clerk Sharon Doerfler and her employees in the Clerk’s Office are a unique Township Department because they work directly for and answer to the Township Council. The office prepares the Council Meeting Agenda’s and retains original copies of all minutes, ordinances and resolutions, and administers and records oaths of office.  

The Clerk’s Office is also the Custodian of the Municipal Seal and is also where all meeting minutes, bond and contract information and archival records are stored. 

The Township Clerk is also the Chief Elections Officer and Chief Registrar of Voters in Monroe, meaning she certifies vacant seats on the Council, maintains receipts of nominating petitions, certifies those petitions with the County Clerk, maintains the local election results and also suggests polling places.

Ms. Doerfler and her staff should be commended for their work to ensure residents have every opportunity to register to vote. The Clerk’s Office holds extended hours on registration deadlines before primary and general elections. Also, voter registration forms are available on the Township website, www.monroetwp.com. Furthermore, the Clerk also maintains party affiliation declaration forms and absentee ballot applications.

In addition, residents in need of licenses for their dogs or cats, retail food establishments, liquor sales, taxi and limousine services, raffle or bingo permits, wrecking yards, and peddling and solicitation permits must go to the Clerk’s Office.
 
All dogs and cats must be licensed in the Township. To obtain a license, the owner must provide proof of a current rabies vaccination. Licenses must be renewed by January 31 every year and can be purchased at the Township Clerk’s Office. The cost is $7 for each spayed/neutered dog or cat and $10 for non-spayed/non-neutered. There will be a $10 late fee for each license renewed after March 31.

In addition, Ms. Doerfler and her staff hold a free rabies clinic annually in our Public Works Facility located on Gravel Hill-Spotswood Road, always on the first Saturday in March, where residents can have their pets vaccinated for no charge.   
 
Additionally, the Clerk’s Office is where residents go for marriage applications, remarriage/reaffirmation of a Civil Union, Civil Union Applications and Domestic Partnership Applications and to get certified copies of all of the above, as well as local death and birth certificates. 

The Clerk’s Office has taken many steps to make the office more accessible to residents. Many of the forms and applications are now available on the Township website, www.monroetwp.com under the forms, permits and applications tab.

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