2022 Report to the Citizens of Orange County

Report to the Citizens of Orange County 2021 Fiscal Year October 1, 2020 - September 30, 2021

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From Your Clerk of Courts As 2021 kicked off, I was honored to take my oath of office after you, the voters, re-elected me to a second full term as your Clerk of Courts. We all continued to face new challenges from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but my office kept pivoting to meet the needs of our customers. For example, we emphasized virtual ways for citizens to do business with us.

As the pandemic further exposed flaws in how Clerk’s services across the state are funded, I was thrilled legislators passed our priority bill to start stabilizing our budget model. Also, I was installed as Treasurer of the Florida Court Clerks and Comptroller’s (FCCC) Board of Directors which increases my statewide influence which in turn helps my office better serve our local community.

I’m so proud of all of the work my office was able to accomplish, and most importantly of my resilient staff, who continued to provide the best customer service through ever-changing times.

Some of this past year’s accomplishments you will see in this report include providing more free virtual educational webinars, being recognized for best practices, launching a new video series, and initiatives where we either raised money or collected donations.

My staff’s dedication and passion are what made it all happen, and I could not be more grateful.

As we move forward, my office will continue to shift as needed and create more innovative ways to ensure doing business with us is as convenient as possible.

As always, I am honored to be able to serve you, our Orange County Residents.

Thank you,

Tiffany Moore Russell Orange County Clerk of Courts

Meet the Clerk!

Find out more about your Orange County Clerk of Courts.

Our Strategy to Serve At the Clerk’s Office, we work hard to make sure our mission and vision are clear. The bottom line is it’s all about serving our customers and the community.

Our mission is to maintain court records and provide our global community and partners access to related services with transparency and integrity. Our vision is to be a leading organization that elevates the customer experience, leverages technology, and fosters community partnerships all through an engaged workforce.

This past year some of our accomplishments included enhancements to our website to make doing business with us easier, a prevention plan was developed to reduce our risk of a cyber security attack, and process cost reductions were identified to save time and money.

Our Strategy Watch this video to see our strategic plan in motion.

Our Objectives

Beyond Digital Transformation

Employee Focus

Transform the organization and its culture by evolving our digital framework, enhancing data security, and utilizing analytics for decision making.

Intentionally seek, develop, engage, and maintain an agile, highly skilled workforce that evolves with the needs of the organization.

Access to Justice

Fiscal Accountability

Develop and expand access to clerk services for all in the community.

Maximize our financial resources to ensure successful implementation of organizational goals.

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What’s New Know Before You File

When the Florida Supreme Court made important changes to Civil and Small Claims Court filings, our office made sure customers were aware. We launched “Know Before You File” to inform attorneys and self-represented filers they are now responsible for ensuring any confidential information filed in court documents is identified for redaction. Our efforts included a training webinar for attorneys and posts on our website and social media.

Pay Enhancements

As part of our ongoing effort to make doing business with us more convenient, we launched enhancements on our website, so payments can be made easier. Our website now has easy to find payment buttons on our main page and a consolidated payment page with everything you need to know to make various payment types. To see this, go to MyOrangeClerk.com

Cyber Security

As part of our strategic plan, we created a Cyber Security Task Force (CST) to assist our cyber education program by spreading awareness throughout the divisions on specific cybersecurity related topics. A prevention plan was rolled out to help manage, prioritize, and reduce a cybersecurity risk which in turn also helps protect our customer’s personal information.

eCertify

eCertify is one of the newest innovative advances we recently launched. eCertify allows users to order and immediately receive certified copies of court records right online. We have rolled out this initiative to the State Attorney and Public Defender’s Offices. The next phase will go live to the public in 2022.

The Slice

In order to reveal some of those little-known things we do at the Clerk’s Office, we launched “The Slice”. This is a video series that gives an inside look at topics such as our evidence vault, Records Center, and why redaction of sensitive court documents is important.

Best Practices Recognition

Our staff was recognized on a statewide level by the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers’ (FCCC) for six best practices. We were one of 40 Clerk’s Offices recognized for best practices in areas such as Confidential Judicial Records, Guardianship Audit, and Marriage Licenses just to name a few. A best practice creates consistency and better service for you the customer.

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Legislative Update Clerk’s At Your Service Priorities Passes

Clerks statewide have had an ongoing challenge with how our offices are funded, and because of our unique funding structure, we were hit especially hard from the impacts of COVID-19. Facing significant budget reductions, Clerks of Courts worked tirelessly to keep critical services available.

In response, we brought forward several key solutions to partner with the Legislature to start stabilizing services and move towards a long-term solution. We are grateful the Legislature heard our concerns and passed two key provisions that will make significant progress toward addressing our funding issues: • •

Senate Bill 838 was passed and signed into law, authorizing Clerks to maintain responsible, statewide reserves, carry forward certain revenues from year to year, and promote payment plans to help more people pay their obligations and reduce driver license suspensions.

Also, the legislature provided a one-year allocation of $6.25 million in emergency funds for the Clerks of Court Pandemic Recovery Plan to assist with the backlog of cases due to the pandemic.

We would like to recognize the following members of the Orange County Legislative Delegation, State Senator Randolph Bracy (D-11), Senator Victor Torres (D-15), State Representative Kamia Brown (D-45), and State Representative Daisy Morales (D-48) who co-sponsored our Clerk priority bill SB 838. We appreciate their sponsorship and support. We also thank the local delegation members for voting in favor of this legislation.

Thousands Helped During Operation Green Light

As part of the Florida Statute to reduce driver license suspensions and help drivers take care of their court obligations, our office was delighted to help more than one thousand customers during Operation Green Light. This annual initiative helps drivers with outstanding traffic tickets and criminal fines get on payment plans while saving the 25% collection agency surcharge. To reduce the number of people gathering at the courthouse during the pandemic, the event was held virtually to continue providing customers with access to this great opportunity.

Florida Clerks gather yearly in the Florida Capitol to meet with legislators and promote upcoming legislative priorities. Clerk Russell had the opportunity to thank members of the Orange County Delegation for their continued support of Clerk initiatives.

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Managing Our Money The Clerk’s Office provides critical services that affect public safety, commerce, and access to justice, and what we collect helps fund many other entities. Per state statute, we operate by the fines and fees we collect, not by traditional taxes.

The Orange County Clerk’s total court related budget for fiscal year 2021 was $27.2 million.

One of the main responsibilities of the Clerk’s Office is to collect fines and fees and distribute them to appropriate entities. By statute, we disburse millions of dollars collected each year to the state, county, and local municipalities. In the end, we only keep a small portion of the money we collect each year.

Our 2021 Finances | By the Numbers (Orange County Clerk - Court Only)

What We Collect, What We Keep, and What We Disburse

Total Amount Collected in FY 2021:

$96.8 million

Total Disbursed (by Statute) by Percentage:

State Agencies 53%

28%

Orange County 11%

(27.2 million)

Unclaimed Money Returned to Customers

Local Municipalities & Agencies 8%

The Clerk’s Office was able to return more than 85 thousand dollars in unclaimed checks this past year to people who were owed money that was never claimed. The checks were sent out but for various reasons never cashed. In the end, we were able to reissue 433 checks totaling $85,491.81. Each year, we return unclaimed money to the rightful owners. The unclaimed money includes uncashed jury checks, vendor payments, refunds, cash bonds, and restitution.

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By the numbers

FY 2021

Records

18,771,316

Online Court Record Searches

2,529,882

Court Documents Processed via EPortal

MyOrangeClerk.com

6,032,076 total page views

accessed the most in the following countries:

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Customers Served

255,174 onsite

80,489 online

269,257 11,177 calls

Marriage Licenses

22,493 Passports

Payments

Self Help Center

9, 076 Customers Served 2,163

Virtual Attorney Consultations 9

Clerks Care As the Clerk’s Office continues to navigate through the pandemic, our commitment to serving and empowering our community remains strong.

180 Holiday Meals

765 Boxes

packed for families at Second Harvest

served to local seniors & staff at local nursing home

1K+ School Supplies

180 Shoes

donated to Harbor House and Central Florida schools

donated to Central Florida foster families

$17,000+

raised for United Way of Central Florida

We partnered with other agencies at the courthouse for “Candy in the Courtyard” to help families kick off the Halloween weekend.

We participated in Second Harvest Food Bank’s 3rd Annual Legislative Day of Service.

18 volunteers packed 765 boxes with food and supplies for home delivery.

We once again partnered with Centerplate to bring back a hybrid version of our free holiday brunch to senior citizens.

The residents and staff at Guardian Care were treated to some delicious food and other holiday goodies!

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Helping Our Community

We raised more than $17,000 for the Heart of Florida United Way campaign to support those in need in our community.

Clerk Russell and staff joined Commissioner Regina Hill and the City of Orlando for the “Jump Start” event to help Mercy Drive residents apply for passports, check driver’s license reinstatement eligibility, and assist with sealing & expungement qualifications.

In support of the Legal Aid Society and foster families, we collected new/gently used sneakers, dress shoes, and sandals for children and adults.

Clerk Russell stood alongside Harbor House of Central Florida, County and City dignitaries for a Domestic Violence Press Conference. The safety of anyone seeking protection from domestic violence will always be a top priority for our office.

We were pleased to host the Health Department’s #IGotMyShot Mobile Vaccine unit at two of our locations to administer more than 95 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

To help lift the spirits of domestic violence survivors, Clerk of Courts staff created 30 hand-written messages for our “Letters of Courage” initiative with Harbor House.

We held a back-to-school supply drive as our 2021 service project, collecting supplies for Harbor House & local elementary schools.

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Providing Access to Justice Free Legal Forums

As a service to the community, our office holds free legal forums each year that assists citizens with legal information. Each year we bring together county and state officials, lawyers, judges, and advocates for these forums. This past year we held forums on Probate, Evictions, Domestic Violence, and Mental Health. The forums give the community insight into our office’s services, tips from judges, legal information from attorneys, and an opportunity to ask questions.

Clerk Russell created these free legal forums as a service to make legal information more easily accessible and to provide better access to justice.

Webinars Click here to watch our collection of webinars including our Legal Forums

Ask A Lawyer

We partner with the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) to also provide another great legal service to the community with events called “Ask a Lawyer”. During these events, we are able to provide information about the Clerk’s Office Self-Help Center. The Self-Help Center helps provide legal assistance to anyone who does not have an attorney or cannot afford one. Each “Ask a Lawyer” event is hosted by the OCBA at no cost. Legal topics include estate planning, real estate law, family law, and landlord/tenant issues to name a few.

The Slice – An Inside Look at the Clerk’s Office

As a way of expanding access to our services for everyone in the community, this past year we launched a new video series called “The Slice: An Inside Look at the Clerk’s Office”. These short videos give an inside look at some of the areas and services the public may not have much insight into. The videos are published as part of our monthly e-newsletter Center Court. Evidence, our Records Center, unclaimed checks, and redaction of court documents are a few of the video topics we have featured so far. They are also featured on our social media channels.

Get an inside look!

View our full collection of The Slice videos here.

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Culture of Excellence

We celebrate our employees who go the extra mile to serve our customers!

Quarterly recognition to honor managers for demonstrating outstanding leadership.

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Clerk Services At the Clerk’s Office our goal is to always elevate our customer’s experience. Below are many of the ways we make doing business easier. In our digital version, simply click on the highlighted link. In the print version, go to our website MyOrangeClerk.com for access to all these services.

1. Payments & Payment Plans

We have many payment options and payment plans.

These options include making a traffic ticket, criminal fine, child support, or family related payment.

2. Self Help Center

Our Self Help Center helps with low-cost virtual attorney consultations in family law, small claims, and residential evictions. You can make an appointment for an attorney consultation.

3. Marriage Licenses & Ceremonies You can start your marriage license application right from our website and make an appointment to obtain your license and request a ceremony.

4. Passports

You can apply for a passport at any of our four locations.

To save time, read about passport requirements and make an appointment.

5. Search Court Records

You can search for court records by using various criteria such as names and case numbers.

6. Search Court Dates

You can search for court dates and hearing times by searching by name or case number or by date.

7. Traffic Ticket Options

You have several different options when receiving a traffic ticket. On our website, you can determine what traffic option applies to you.

8. My Balance

If you or someone you know has more than one case with our office, you can look up your balance.

9. Foreclosure Sales

Foreclosure sales can be viewed and bids on foreclosed properties can be made right from our website.

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10 Before You Visit

We have a “Before You Visit” checklist if you are going to visit any of our four locations.

11. Request Copies

You can request copies of court records and other documents directly on our website.

12. Forms & Packets

Free forms and packets of forms are available for sale to be used in filing a new case or modifying a case in either the Family or Civil Courts.

13. Restraining Orders

You can file a petition for a restraining order on our website or at the Orange County Courthouse. There is no fee to file for a restraining order.

14. Sign Up for our Newsletter

Make sure you get all the latest news and updates from the Clerk’s Office by signing up for our Center Court Newsletter.

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Report to the Citizens of Orange County Locations: Downtown Orlando | Apopka | Ocoee | Winter Park For more information, go to:

MyOrangeClerk.com Follow us on social media: #MyOrangeClerk #ConnectWithTheClerk

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