The Circuit Court Clerk's role in the Tennessee Court System is very broad. Most of it is outlined in Title 18 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. Some duties include but are not limited to:

• Attending court sessions;
• Administering oaths in absence of the judge;
• Keeping court minutes;
• Maintaining dockets of court judgments and decrees and indexing those;
• Investing funds and collecting litigation taxes;
• Retaining, preserving and filing in order all civil case documents.

In Washington County, Circuit Court Clerk Karen Guinn has civil and criminal jurisdiction. She works with a total of six judges. She is clerk for Circuit, Criminal, General Sessions and Juvenile courts, and also oversees jury service.

Karen Guinn was elected Washington County's Circuit Court Clerk in September 2002 following the retirement of Don Squibb. Guinn served as an employee of the clerk's office for nearly three decades, and was Squibb's Chief Deputy from 1982-2002. She was re-elected to office in 2006 and again in 2010.