Scribd
Upload
9 views2 pages

Florida Court Clerks Funding Needs

The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers presented to the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee to demonstrate the need for adequate funding of vital court services. A workload analysis commissioned by the Court Clerks found that while case filings have decreased, the workload has actually increased due to new mandates. The analysis also found that clerk budgets have remained static while costs have increased, resulting in understaffing. The Court Clerks are asking the legislature to support funding the current year deficit and enact a long-term funding solution to provide stable and efficient court services to Floridians.

Uploaded by

api-157539785
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views2 pages

Florida Court Clerks Funding Needs

The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers presented to the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee to demonstrate the need for adequate funding of vital court services. A workload analysis commissioned by the Court Clerks found that while case filings have decreased, the workload has actually increased due to new mandates. The analysis also found that clerk budgets have remained static while costs have increased, resulting in understaffing. The Court Clerks are asking the legislature to support funding the current year deficit and enact a long-term funding solution to provide stable and efficient court services to Floridians.

Uploaded by

api-157539785
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, February 16, 2016


Contact
Sarah Bascom, sarah@[Link], 850.294.6636
Kristen Bridges, kristen@[Link], 850.545.1917

Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers Continues to Showcase Need for


Adequate Funding of Vital Statewide Services to Court System
Tallahassee, Fla. The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers today continued to demonstrate a
need for adequate funding for the vital services the Court Clerks and Comptrollers provide to the
states court system in a presentation before the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee.
In 2015, the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers commissioned North Highland, an Atlantabased firm, to conduct a workload analysis on the Clerk offices operations across the state
between the 2010-11 fiscal year and the 2014-15 fiscal year. As a result, the Phase I report
found that Floridas Clerks have been confronted with a diminished budget as a result of a
reduction in the number of new cases filed. Additionally, the report showed that although the
case filings have decreased, the workload for the Clerks has actually increased.
We thank the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee for having us here today to showcase
the revenue deficit that we are experiencing throughout our operations statewide, said Sarasota
Clerk of Court Karen Rushing, legislative chair of the Florida Court Clerks &
Comptrollers. The constitution requires that Floridas Court Clerks are funded by fines, fees
and service charges and when those are inadequate to serve our office we have to come to the
Legislature to address our funding needs. As such, we commissioned a firm to conduct a study,
which concluded that due to revenue reductions, combined with increased costs, Floridas Clerks
are significantly understaffed to continue to perform the court-related duties of the office at the
levels required by statute and expected by our judicial partners and the public we serve.
According to North Highland, the workload analysis in the Phase I report found:
A decrease in case filings does not imply a proportionate decrease in case processing
workload;
Revenue does not correlate with workload, but, rather, is a function of the number and
type of case filings;
Major new and expanded mandates have caused an increase in the workload;
Clerk budgets have remained static over the last five years, yet inflationary costs
associated with benefits and other activities have risen and have been absorbed by Clerks
resulting in a net decrease in budget available to Clerks; and,
An analysis of the actual workload associated with the various case types shows that the
Clerks need more case processing hours to meet the demand.
(MORE)

FLORIDA COURT CLERKS & COMPTROLLERS | PAGE 2


To view the Phase I report in its entirety, please visit [Link]
The insufficient funds for our offices continue to force layoffs and branch office closures, and
negatively affect the quality and timeliness of our services statewide, said Clerk Rushing. We
ask the Florida Legislature and Governor to support the funding for the current year deficit, as
well as enact a long-term solution to the Clerk funding process. We need a sound funding
solution so that we can have a stable system from year to year, which will allow us to avoid
future deficits and provide effective and efficient services to Floridians.
For more information on the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, please visit
[Link].
###

You might also like