Article 80. Fees · Last amended 2023 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 8018 sets the fee a county clerk charges to assign an index number to a new action, lists the actions and case types exempt from that fee, and provides that once an index number is assigned, no further fee applies to routine filings in that action.
1. A county clerk is entitled, for the assignment of an index number to an action pending in a court of which he or she is clerk, to a fee of: (i) one hundred ninety dollars; and (ii) in an action to foreclose pursuant to article thirteen of the real property actions and proceedings law, such clerk is entitled to collect an additional fee of one hundred ninety dollars. Such fees are payable in advance.
2. The filing of a transcript of judgment in the county clerk’s office is not to be deemed an action pending in the supreme or county court of the county in which it is filed, nor does it constitute the commencement of an action in such courts.
3. In addition, a county clerk is entitled, for the assignment of an index number to an action pending in a court of which he or she is clerk, to the following fee: an additional five dollars, to be paid monthly by the county clerk to the commissioner of education, after deducting twenty-five cents, for deposit into the New York state local government records management improvement fund and an additional fifteen dollars, after deducting seventy-five cents, for deposit to the cultural education account.
(b)Exemptions from index number fee. No fee shall be charged for the assignment of an index number:
1. upon the filing of an order of the appellate term of the supreme court or of an order or certificate of commitment under the mental hygiene law; or 2. upon the transfer of papers from the clerk of any other court, pursuant to an order for change of venue; or 3. to a criminal case or to any action at the request of a public agency, officer or poor person entitled by law to exemption from payment of fees to a county clerk; or 4. to any case in a county court on appeal from a judgment or order of the district court or a town, village or city court; or 5. to a civil cause of action in which a city, town, village, fire district, district corporation, school district or board of cooperative educational services is the plaintiff; or 6. upon the filing of an application for an extreme risk protection order pursuant to article sixty-three-a of this chapter.
(c)Endorsement of index number on papers. No paper in an action in the supreme or a county court, other than an order submitted for signature to a judge out of court, shall be submitted for any purpose to the supreme or county court or to a clerk thereof unless there is endorsed on such paper the index number of the action assigned by the clerk of the county.
(d)Additional services without fee where index number assigned. A county clerk who has assigned an index number shall charge no further fee in the action to which the index number is assigned:
1. for the filing, entering, indexing, or docketing, and in the counties within the city of New York, for recording, as required by statute, of any and all papers in the action, or preliminary thereto or supplementary to judgment;
2. for furnishing an extract of minutes for filing with the clerk of the court, for affixing a certificate to a filed paper, for taxing costs, for sealing writs, for issuing commissions, for certifying a copy of the clerk’s minutes to accompany papers transmitted upon entry of an order for change of venue, or for entering a judgment in the action;
3. for docketing of a satisfaction, a partial satisfaction, an assignment, a reversal, a modification, an amendment, a cancellation or a continuance of a previous entry or docket of a previously filed paper in the action;
4. for certifying a copy of an order of an appellate term of the supreme court for transmittal to the civil court of the city of New York or a city, municipal or district court, or for certifying a copy of an order for use in a division of the clerk’s office or for transmittal to a city or county treasurer;
5. for docketing of a return of execution, satisfied, unsatisfied or partially satisfied;
6. for filing a notice or order continuing or cancelling a notice of pendency of action or a notice of attachment against real property; and 7. for discharging a judgment of record by deposit with the clerk.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 8018 governs the index number fee, the charge a county clerk collects for assigning an index number to an action pending in a court the clerk serves. Subdivision (a) sets the fee at $190, payable in advance, with an added $190 for an action to foreclose brought under article 13 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law. Filing a transcript of judgment does not itself count as an action pending in the supreme or county court and does not commence an action for these purposes. The subdivision also adds two further charges on top of that fee: five dollars (minus a twenty-five-cent deduction) for the state local government records management improvement fund, and fifteen dollars (minus a seventy-five-cent deduction) for the cultural education account, both paid monthly by the clerk to the commissioner of education.
Subdivision (b) lists exemptions from the index number fee: orders of the Appellate Term or commitment orders under the Mental Hygiene Law, papers transferred on a change of venue, criminal cases and actions brought by public agencies, officers, or poor persons entitled to fee exemption, county court appeals from town, village, or city courts, civil actions where a municipality or a similar public entity is the plaintiff, and applications for an extreme risk protection order.
Subdivision (c) requires that every paper submitted in a supreme or county court action, other than an order submitted to a judge out of court, bear the assigned index number. Subdivision (d) then makes clear that once an index number has been assigned, the clerk charges no further fee for a list of routine services within that same action: filing, entering, indexing, or docketing papers; furnishing minute extracts, certifying filed papers, taxing costs, sealing writs, issuing commissions, or entering judgment; docketing satisfactions, assignments, or similar entries; certifying orders for transmittal; docketing returns of execution; filing notices affecting a notice of pendency or attachment; and discharging a judgment of record by deposit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a county clerk charge to assign an index number?
$190, payable in advance, under CPLR 8018(a), plus an additional $20 in surcharges under paragraph 3 for the state records management fund and the cultural education account, bringing the total to $210.
Is there an extra index number fee for foreclosure actions?
Yes. An action to foreclose under article 13 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law draws an additional $190 fee, on top of the standard index number fee.
What actions are exempt from the index number fee?
Subdivision (b) lists several: certain Appellate Term orders and Mental Hygiene Law commitment orders, papers transferred on a change of venue, criminal cases, actions by public agencies, officers, or poor persons entitled by law to a fee exemption, certain county court appeals, civil actions where a municipality or similar entity is the plaintiff, and applications for an extreme risk protection order.
Do I owe a fee every time I file a paper after the index number is assigned?
No. Once an index number is assigned, subdivision (d) bars the clerk from charging further fees for a list of routine filings and services in that same action.
Must every paper filed in the action show the index number?
Yes, with one exception. Subdivision (c) requires the assigned index number to be endorsed on every paper submitted in the action, except an order submitted to a judge out of court.
Does filing a transcript of judgment require its own index number?
No. Subdivision (a) provides that filing a transcript of judgment in the county clerk's office is not deemed a pending action and does not commence an action.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section is based upon CPA §§ 1557-a(II)(a) (applicable to the city of New York), 1557(5) (applicable to Nassau county), 1557-e(I)(e) (applicable to Westchester county) and 1557-c(45) (applicable to Suffolk county). The phrase “counties comprising the city of New York,” in § 1557-a and in other provisions in which it appeared has been changed to “counties within the city of New York” for semantic reasons. The city comprises the counties, but the counties do not comprise the city. See Strunk & White, The Elements of Style, 36 (1959).
The second sentence in the introductory paragraphs of CPA §§ 1557-a and 1557-e, which provided that the fees prescribed superseded those allowed by any other statute for the same services, and the opening phrase of the introductory paragraphs of CPA §§ 1557 and 1557-c, which provided that a greater fee allowed by another statute for the same service superseded the fee prescribed, have not been included in this section, since no other statute prescribes fees for index numbers.
Although the provision for Suffolk county requires an index number, no further services are rendered for the index number fee. The other counties mentioned have a “true” index number fee, which replaces the many small fees for particular services formerly charged.
Subd (a) of this section is derived from parts of CPA §§ 1557-a(II)(a), 1557(5), 1557-e(I)(e) and 1557-c(45). The last paragraph in each of the first three provisions mentioned has been replaced by the phrase “pending in a court of which he is clerk” in the opening clause of this subdivision. The former phrase “action or proceeding” has been replaced with the word “action,” in this provision and in other provisions in which it appears, because § 103(b) provides that all procedures in a proceeding shall be the same as those in an action, unless otherwise provided. The fee set out in subparagraph 2 represents an increase from three dollars to five dollars.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (b) of this section is derived from the parts designated (a) of CPA §§ 1557-a(II)(a), 1557(5), 1557-e(I)(e) and 1557-c(45). The phrase “upon the filing of an order of the appellate term of the supreme court” does not appear in the last-mentioned provisions since no appeals are taken to the Appellate Term from a court in Suffolk county. Subparagraph 2 of the subdivision is derived from the parts designated (c) of the same sections. The parts designated (b) and (d) of the former provisions, which contained exceptions for a criminal case and for an action instituted by a public agency or officer or by a poor person, are deleted. The present and the former article do not apply to criminal cases. See CPA § 1567; CPLR § 101. The exemption for actions by state officers and agencies is covered by § 8017 and that for poor persons is covered by § 1102(d).
Subd (c) of this section is derived from parts of CPA §§ 1557-a(II)(a), 1557(5), 1557-e(I)(e) and 1557-c(45). The phrase “which ultimately is to be filed” has been omitted as unnecessary. The phrase “to a judge out of court” has been retained from the former provisions to which this subdivision corresponds. Since the new provisions retain the distinction between judge’s orders and court orders for some purposes, the phrase clarifies the type of order intended as an exception to the index number provision.
Subd (d) of this section is derived from CPA §§ 1557-a(II)(a), 1557(5) and 1557-e(I)(e). There was no parallel provision in CPA § 1557-c(45), which applied to Suffolk county. See preliminary note to this section. The words “judgment or final order” have been changed to “judgment,” in this provision and in other provisions in which it appears, since a “final order” under former law is denoted a “judgment” under CPLR rule 411.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1; amd, L 1963, ch 532, §§ 1, 54, eff Sept 1, 1963; L 1964, ch 286, § 1; L 1966, ch 752, § 1; L 1970, ch 105, § 1; L 1971, ch 404, § 1; L 1972, ch 709, § 2; L 1972, ch 734, § 5; L 1977, ch 33, § 1; L 1977, ch 688, § 3; L 1980, ch 39, § 1; L 1981, ch 997, § 1; L 1983, ch 15, § 140; L 1987, ch 825, § 14, eff Nov 5, 1987; L 1988, ch 192, § 2, eff July 31, 1988; L 1989, ch 78, § 7, eff July 30, 1989; L 1989, ch 488, §§ 1, 2, eff July 16, 1989; L 1990, ch 190, § 260, eff May 25, 1990; L 2000, ch 314, § 1, eff July 1, 2001; L 2002, ch 83, § 1 (Part B), eff July 1, 2002; L 2003, ch 62, § 23 (Part J), eff July 14, 2003; L 2010, ch 56, § 5 (Part K), eff Sept 1, 2010; L 2023, ch 428, § 1, effective September 15, 2023.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:index number feecounty clerk index numberNew York index number fee amountCPLR 8018 exemptionsindex number fee foreclosure