(1) The clerk shall keep a general docket, in which he shall enter the names of the parties in each case, the time of filing the declaration, indictment, record from inferior courts on appeal or certiorari, petition, plea, or demurrer, and all other papers in the cause, the issuance and return of process, and a note of all judgments rendered therein, by reference to the minute book and page. He shall mark on the papers in every cause the style and number of the suit, and the time when, and the party by whom filed; and he shall not suffer any paper so filed to be withdrawn but by leave of the court, and then only by retaining a copy, to be made at the cost of the party obtaining the leave. All the papers and pleadings filed in a cause shall be kept in the same file, and all the files kept in numerical order. Entries in criminal cases shall not be made on the docket so as to disclose the names of the defendants until their arrest. And the docket shall be duly indexed, both directly and indirectly, in the alphabetical order of the names of each of the parties.
(2) The general docket required to be kept by this section and all other dockets or records required by law to be kept by the circuit clerk may be kept on computer in lieu of any other physical docket, record or well-bound book if all such dockets and records are kept by computer in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Administrative Office of Courts.