For Immediate Release

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Contact
Sarah Bascom, sarah@bascomllc.com, 850.294.6636
Kristen Bridges, kristen@bascomllc.com, 850.545.1917

Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers Showcase Need for Adequate Funding
of Vital Statewide Services to Court System
Tallahassee, Fla. Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers today demonstrated a need for
adequate funding for the vital services they provide to the states court system in a presentation
before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal & Civil Justice.
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 committee for allowing us to demonstrate the financial burden that this deficit has
placed on our operations statewide, said Sarasota Clerk of Court Karen Rushing, legislative
chair of Floridas Court Clerks & Comptrollers. This study 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 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.
To view the Phase I report in its entirety, please visit http://bit.ly/1Pl0vB2.

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Year after year, this deficit has continued to force layoffs and branch office closures, and has
been detrimental to the quality and timeliness of our services on a statewide level, said
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. These short- and
long-term funding solutions will allow our offices across the Sunshine State to avoid future
deficits and continue to operate efficiently on a daily basis for the people of Florida.
For more information on the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, please visit
www.myfloridaclerks.com.
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