DUTIES

VITAL RECORDS

The primary objective of the vital records function of the Department is to obtain and preserve documentary evidence concerning births, marriages and deaths that is necessary to protect the legal rights of individuals.

Municipal clerks file vital records for events which occur in the State of Maine. If a child is born in Maine, a copy of the birth certificate is filed in the town/Town where the birth occurred, and the town/Town where the mother resided at the time of the child's birth.

A death certificate is filed in the municipality where the death occurred, and the municipality where the deceased resided.

A marriage license is filed where the bride and groom applied for the license. Note: All vital records are also filed with the State of Maine Office of Vital Records.

Birth certificates are necessary to enroll in school, to apply for driver licenses, to secure a passport or travel visa, to participate in many athletic programs and to apply for social security and other public program benefits.

Death certificates are necessary for many critical legal functions, including burial procedures and the processing of insurance benefits, estate settlement, transfer of stocks, bonds, personal property and real estate.

OFFICIAL TOWN RECORDS

As Custodian of Records, the Town Clerk’s Department serves as the official record filing center for all Town resolutions, ordinances, contracts, minutes and documents adopted by the Town Council. The Clerk handles requests for information regarding official Town documents. Requests for copies of records shall be submitted in writing. Preservation of historical records is an on-going effort of the Department.

The chief monument to the history of a Town is its public archives. Preservation of archives is universally recognized as a proper and natural function of government. Public records are public property, and stewardship over records is a government responsibility vital to the public trust. The Town’s public records are owned by the people in the same sense that citizens own Town Hall, the Public Library, the parks, the streets and sidewalks, the funds in the treasury.

The Town’s archives, administered by the Town Clerk’s Office, is charged by law with a special role in protecting and managing the recorded information of the Town of Scarborough. Like other public assets, the Town’s records are held in trust for the citizens by custodians, that is, the heads of Town departments. Once permanent records are no longer required for current business, they must be transferred to the Town’s Records Center. Here they are protected and permanently preserved as historical, cultural and legal assets for use by Town government and the public.

In a very real sense, archives are the most important municipal asset of all. Archives and records are unique and irreplaceable and document the conduct of the people’s business, including the rights, privileges and property of individual citizens. Archives shed light on our experience as a government and a community, help us better understand our past successes and failures, and open a broad range of possibilities for planning better futures.

TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS

The Department is responsible of the preparation, reproduction, distribution and archiving of Town Council agendas, agenda packet materials, documents and the official meeting minutes.

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

The Town Clerk’s Department coordinates all election procedures on the municipal level for the federal and state elections. For every State or Federal election the Department is responsible for:

Hiring and training election workers
Coordinating the absentee ballot process
Conducting absentee voting at the Scarborough nursing homes
Testing the electronic tabulation machines to ensure the proper programming of the machines
Ensuring that all state statutes regarding election administration are complied with correctly.

For all municipal elections, the Department administers and coordinates every aspect of the election process, and the Department is additionally responsible for:

Preparation nomination petitions
Printing of ballots
Preparation of all "closing of the polls" paperwork regarding final tabulation of election results and ballot security.

Overall, the main objective of the election administration function is to ensure a fair and impartial election process and to secure and protect the individual rights of every Scarborough voter.

The Town Clerk is the local recording officer for all filings and statements required by State Statutes regarding Campaign Finance Reports. This includes campaign contribution and expenditure reports from candidates for Town Council and School Board.

DOG LICENSING

Per Statutes, every owner of a dog 6 months of age or older shall license the dog with the Town Clerk’s Department if the dog resides in Scarborough.

LICENSING

The Town Clerk’s Department works with various Town departments such as Code Enforcement, Police and Fire to ensure the proper inspection and regulatory requirements are met prior to the Town licensing certain businesses to operate in Scarborough.

We wish to thank John Lewis and Scarborough High School for allowing us to use photographs from a guided tour of Scarborough historical sites: Scarborough History Map and Sites.