County Clerk

Certificate of Aliveness

Submit the following documents to the County Clerk for issuance of the Certificate of Aliveness:

• Valid government issued picture ID
• Utility bill in your name (this is the address that will be noted on your certificate)
  • If the utility bill is in your spouse's name only, you must bring a certified copy of your marriage license as proof of marriage
  • If certificate will be for a minor, you will need to bring school transcripts
  • $3.25 per certificate, per person

Certificate of Authority for Admitted Sureties

To receive a Certificate of Authority for Admitted Sureties, you will need to provide us with the name of the Surety Company. We will research the company and issue a certificate with a status of Admitted or Not Admitted.

The fee is $5.00 per Surety Company

Certificate of Employee Signature

To obtain a Certificate to authenticate a signature of a Kern County employee, you must submit the original document to our office. We will verify the signature against the signature in our office and issue the certificate.

If you need to have a document apostilled, please visit California’s Secretary of State website at http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/authentication.htm.

Any document executed by County Health Officers and County Local Registrars must first be certified by the County Clerk before being submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office. Signatures of Judges of the Superior Court, Court Administrators, Executive Officers, Executive Clerks, State Officials, County Recorder and the County Clerks and Deputy County Clerks signatures are already on file with the Secretary of State and do not need to be verified in our office.

There is an $8.00 search fee per employee name plus $3.25 per certificate.

Certificate of Notary Public Signature

Submit the following documents to the County Clerk for issuance of the Certificate of Notary Public Signature:

• Original document stapled to:
• Certificate of Acknowledgement
• $8.00 search fee plus $3.25 per certificate
  (e.g. One notary, two documents would be $8.00 + $6.50 = $14.50. If two different notaries,
  it would be $16.00 + $6.50 = $22.50)

Translation Certificate

California Government Code Section 27293 authorizes the County Clerk to issue a Translation Certificate upon verification that the English translation of a foreign language document that must be recorded was performed by a certified or registered court interpreter or an accredited translator registered with the American Translators Association.

The County Clerk verifies Translators/Interpreters Declarations only.
To locate a certified or registered court interpreter or an accredited translator please consult the websites listed below:

California Courts for certified/registered court interpreter

www.courts.ca.gov/programs-interpreters.htm

OR

Translators Association website for accredited translator

www.atanet.org/onlinedirectories/individuals.php

When contacting the certified or registered court interpreter or accredited translator registered with the American Translators Association to have your foreign document translated into English pursuant to California Government Code Section 27293, be sure to request the following:

• An original English translation from the original foreign document
• A declaration by the interpreter or translation which includes the following:
1. Their name and declaration that they are a certified/registered court interpreter or an accredited translator registered with the American Translators Association
2. The language which they are certified/registered to interpret and translate from and to
3. Their certification/registration number(s)
4. A specific description of the document translated
5. A declaration by the interpreter or translator that they have translated the attached document from whatever language it was into the English language, and that the translation is true and accurate
6. A statement that the document is being executed under Penalty of Perjury. This must include the date and location where the Declaration and Certification was executed and signed
7. The original signature of the certified/registered court interpreter or registered accredited translator
• The signature of the interpreter or translator on the declaration must be acknowledged by a notary public

Submit the following documents to the County Clerk for issuance of the Translation Certificate:

• The original foreign document
• The original English translation of the foreign document
• Original Declaration and Certification of the certified/registered Court Interpreter or an Accredited Translator.
• $10 fee per certificate requested

Once the County Clerk Office has confirmed the document includes all of the required information as listed above, and has verified the translation was performed by a certified or registered court interpreter or an accredited translator registered with the American Translators Association, they will issue a Translation Certificate.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact our office at (661) 868-3743.

Note: The signature of the Certified/Registered Court Interpreter or Accredited Translator registered with the American Translators Association must be acknowledged by a notary public.