Orange County Clerk of Court's 2021 Report to the Citizens

2021 Report to the Citizens of Orange County

Fiscal Year 2020 October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020

Our Strategy to Serve FY 2020-2022 Strategic Plan

Only two months before the pandemic swept across the world, the Clerk’s Office launched a new strategic plan. That proved to be good timing.

Our strategy set the direction for us, so when COVID-19 interfered, we were already focusing on innovative objectives such as evolving our digital framework, and maximizing our return on investments. The plan also set the stage which helped make it easier for us to alter our goals in order to provide more ways to adequately serve our employees, stakeholders, and customers.

Watch this video to learn more about our strategic priorities for this year.

Our Objectives Beyond Digital Transformation

Access to Justice

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

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

Employee Focus

Fiscal Accountability

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

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

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Mission

Vision

To maintain court records and provide our global community and partners access to related services with transparency and integrity.

We are a leading organization that elevates the customer experience, leverages technology, and fosters community partnerships all through an engaged workforce.

Our Guiding Principals (CCVIP)

C

Collaboration: Open & Engaging 2

C

V

Serving & Providing Access

Diverse Contribution

Community Focus: Valued Workforce:

I

P

Innovation:

Professionalism:

Enhancement & Ability

Caring & Respect

From Your Clerk of Courts Adapting to a New Normal

When 2020 began we had a renewed hope and enthusiasm for upcoming challenges, opportunities, and successes. Little did we know then that the year would be unlike any other in our lifetime, but my office was prepared to react quickly.

That’s because we had a good foundation in place.

We had already worked hard to create a flexible and forward-thinking strategy that helped us adapt quickly to all the new twists and turns COVID-19 created.

One of the many changes we made at the Clerk’s Office to reduce face to face contact was the design and implementation of new online options. These included bank transfer registry payments and online payments for both Family Court Mediation and the court ordered Family Ties programs. We also moved our Self-Help Center Attorney Consultations to a virtual setting. We modified our appointment options for marriage licenses, passports, and Self-Help attorney consultations.

We also encouraged our customers to stay home, stay safe, and stay connected by contacting us online before visiting our offices. A new customer contact system that we had recently implemented became our lifeline helping customers stay directly connected to my deputy clerks to address questions or requests submitted to our Contact Us page.

The free legal forums I initiated several years ago also went virtual which allowed us to reach people across the county since the forums were not confined to one particular location.

I encourage you to read through this report to see all the examples of how my office shifted to make sure we continued to serve our community during such an unprecedented time. As we move forward, my office will continue to adapt and implement new features to make sure doing business with us is easier and safer.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and our community.

Tiffany Moore Russell Orange County Clerk of Courts

Learn more about your Orange County Clerk of Courts, Tiffany Moore Russell

Installed as Secretary of Statewide Clerk’s Association This past year I was honored to increase my statewide influence for Clerk of Courts across Florida which in turn helps my office better serve our local community. In the midst of the pandemic, I was virtually installed as the Secretary of the Florida Court Clerks and Comptroller’s (FCCC) 2020-2021 Board of Directors. Now more than ever, the FCCC board’s focus is to use innovative solutions in efficiencies and technology to help serve the public better.

I was also re-elected to serve one more year as Secretary/Treasurer on the Executive Council for the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC) which is our statewide budget entity.

Clerk Russell Re-elected to Second Full Term I am so honored to continue serving the great citizens of Orange County. This past year I was re-elected to my second full term as your Clerk of Courts after running unopposed during the 2020 election.

Joined by my supportive family, I took the Oath of Office in a joint ceremony with four other Constitutional Officers. Thank you for the opportunity to continue serving you, our Orange County citizens.

Watch the video of the oath ceremony

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Shifting Online During COVID-19 to Serve the Community Public Access Had to be Limited but not Our Services As soon as the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Clerk’s Office shifted quickly to keep serving Orange County residents while making sure we kept staff and customers safe. We worked closely with judicial and government partners on a coordinated response. As access to the Orange County Courthouse was limited, we also limited access to all Clerk’s Office locations, including our branches.

However, we already had virtual options in place that allowed customers to do business with us anytime and anywhere from any computer, smart phone, or tablet. One of the most important tools is a website customer contact system that allows customers to submit a question or request any time of day by simply going to our Contact Us page from the comfort and safety of their homes.

Need to contact us?

During the pandemic, it was crucial for the community to connect with us.

An upgraded online system for our website’s “Contact Us” page was a big help. Check it out!

Maximizing Online Options for Customers We leveraged many virtual options our office already had in place such as payments for traffic tickets or criminal fines, information about payment plans and other payment options, requesting certified copies for court records and marriage licenses. We were able to limit capacity in our lobbies by encouraging customers to make appointments for marriage licenses and ceremonies, passport applications and Self Help Center attorney consultations which were shifted to virtual consultations. Customers were also able to order and pay for forms and packets for Civil and Family matters right from our website’s shopping cart. As always, cases can be filed electronically via the Florida Courts E-filing Portal.

Court documents are also always available on our my e-clerk website 24 hours a day 7 days a week. During this time, we kept the community informed on all the latest pandemic changes on our COVID-19 website page .

New Virtual Options Added The Clerk’s Office took advantage of the opportunity the pandemic created to reduce face to face contact even more by implementing new online options as well. One of those features is online registry payments which can now be made via Wire Transfer through a banking or financial institution. While there is a $5 processing fee when paying online, this additional online tool provides convenience. We also made this same feature available for a foreclosure registry payment. This process is initiated by visiting Court Registry Payment by Wire Transfer.

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Another online option we launched was online payments for both Mediation Services and the court-ordered Family Ties program for Orange County Family cases.

Previously, customers were required to make payments and coordinate scheduling in person. The new tool on our website now allows customers to complete payments online for these services from anywhere using a smart device. The Clerk of Courts is now set up to seamlessly update Family court cases once the customer receives their digital e-mail receipt.

Shifting Internally During COVID-19 to Serve the Community Leveraging technology The Clerk’s Office adapted to a new virtual world to make sure services continued while protecting the health of the public and staff. Our Information Systems & Technology Division provided staff in critical positions the necessary tools to continue working remotely. This allowed them access to the production software at the Orange County data center or the ability to connect to the Clerk’s Disaster Recovery site in Tallahassee. Trial Clerks were able to support Judges remotely for initial appearances at the jail and for virtual hearings.

The IS&T department was able to transfer case reassignments, a total of 10 different times during the pandemic, to address a growing number of case files. In cooperation with Court Administration, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) was set up for civil cases to allow participants to settle their cases via a “mediator” instead of a judge.

Work Had to Continue on Site

Clerk controlled outages are scheduled in advance.

The Clerk’s Office has experienced in the last 14 months 100% uptime in the Orange County data center.

Since the services we provide are critical and essential for the courts, the Clerk’s Office still had to maintain our on-site divisions which meant protecting our staff was paramount. Our Facilities Division partnered with the county to install plexiglass at counters, cubicles, and anywhere someone was not protected. We assisted the county to install directional signage, hand sanitizing stations while temperature checks and masks were required for anyone entering the downtown Courthouse, and our Apopka, Ocoee, and Winter Park branches. Because of the confined space which limited social distancing, we had to make the tough decision to permanently close our Goldenrod branch.

Relief Funding Helped Avert Office Closures With the help of $1.5 million dollars in relief funding from the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the Clerk’s Office averted closing offices and implementing unpaid furloughs during the height of COVID-19. The effect the pandemic has had on Florida’s Clerks of Court has been severe, since Clerks have no statutory authority to create or maintain a reserve or emergency fund. Clerks are funded by fines, and fees and court costs which they collect, and which were greatly reduced during the pandemic, this resulted in a 53% budget cut for the fourth quarter. The relief funding helped avert a major impact on the public and courts as our office provides critical and essential services per statute, to the courts. This helped our employees avoid the financial hardship a furlough would have created. In the end, through conservative fiscal practices, the Clerk’s Office was able to return most of the emergency funding back to the county.

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Helping Customers Stay Connected Stay Home, Stay Safe, Stay Connected During the heart of COVID-19 we implemented our “stay home, stay safe, and stay connected” campaign, focused on keeping our Orange County residents updated with the ever-changing landscape during the pandemic.

We took advantage of all of the online tools at our disposal such as our website, Clerk Russell’s Center Court Newsletter, YouTube, Facebook, and our other social media channels, to remind customers that they don’t have to come to our offices to do business with us. Many of our services can be accessed online from our website.

Stay In Touch with Us! Stay up-to-date on the latest information from the Orange County Clerk of Courts, including new updates and initiatives, events, information about our dedicated staff, and more, subscribe to Center Court, Clerk Russell’s newsletter.

Click here to subscribe!

Connecting with Videos & Social Media As the environment we worked and lived in continued to change, the Clerk’s Office ramped up efforts to share important information about our services and the courts.

Within weeks of the Governor’s “Stay at Home” orders, Clerk Tiffany Moore Russell was communicating with the public via our social media platforms and by numerous videos to answer frequently asked questions. In all, ten additional videos were produced to share open and honest communication to assist the public during this difficult time.

As information kept changing almost on a daily basis, we were pleased to see more people connected with our office on all of our social media channels.

Coronavirus video topics:

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General Questions

Court Records

Family & Mental Health

Hearings

Traffic

Marriages

Providing Access to Justice Legal Matters Forums Go Virtual COVID-19 gave the Clerk’s Office another opportunity to enhance the way the community was able to connect with us for our free legal forums called “Legal Matters”. These forums which were once held in different locations across the county Want to see what all went virtual. We conducted three different virtual forums on Child Support & these forums are like?

Family Law, and Evictions. The Clerk’s Office brought together county and state Watch the videos! officials, lawyers, and judges for these forums to provide legal information to the community. Clerk Russell created free legal forums as a service for the public to make legal information more accessible at no cost. These forums are one of the best ways to give our citizens more access to justice. The virtual format allowed us to reach more people who could just click on and watch the forum instead of physically attending.

Clerk Russell Continues Work on Statewide Access to Justice Panel Because of her passion to help people get access to the courts, Clerk Russell continues to work statewide in response to the legal needs of disadvantaged, low to moderate income families. Her work led the Florida Supreme Court to appoint her to the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice. As part of Clerk Russell’s commitment to this issue, she opened the Clerk’s Office first Self-Help Center in 2015 at the Orange County Courthouse to help underserved customers in need of access to legal assistance. It was the first of its kind in our community to help people who either don’t have a lawyer or cannot afford one. Learn more about the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice

Self Help Centers Provides Virtual Attorney Consultations Another shift the Clerk’s Office made was the creation of virtual attorney consultations with our downtown Self Help Center. To limit the number of face to face interactions, customers were able to schedule appointments in advance. Once they made an appointment, then a virtual link was established where they were able to meet with an attorney for a lowcost consultation on any Family Law, Small Claims, and Residential Landlord/Tenant case types. While we limited customers in the Self Help Center we still had deputy clerks on hand who assisted self-represented litigants with their filings. These attorney consultations may be scheduled in 15-minute sessions, for up to 1 hour per day, per person. The cost for an attorney consultation is only $1 per minute. We appreciate our continued partnership with Orange County Bar Association to provide this service.

See how we have helped customers in our Self-Help Center with their Journey to Justice

e-notify Reminds Customers about Upcoming Court Dates To make sure customers get reminders about upcoming court dates and events, the Florida Court’s e-notify was created.

As a partnership between Florida Court Clerks, Florida State Courts System, and the Legislature, this new program notifies registered users about court events, like hearing dates, via text or email. e-notify currently is limited to criminal felony, misdemeanor, and traffic cases. You can sign up for e-notifications or learn more at enotify.flcourts.org.

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YEAR IN NUMBERS Staying Open, Connected & Reliable During the Pandemic

13,344,602

We processed a total of

2,077,023

Total online record searches (My eClerk)

court documents

(Submitted via the E-Portal)

MyOrangeClerk.com

5,856,982 Total Page Views

A Total of 1.5M customers per year used our site. about 7.9K customers per day!

How was our site accessed?

53.8%

44.1%

used a phone

2.1%

used a desktop

used a tablet

What countries used our site the most?

1 8

United States

2 United Kingdom

4

3 India

Puerto Rico

6

5 Canada

Brazil

We served

252,666 customers in person at our locations

Traffic & Criminal

Family & Self Help

Our Call Center spoke to We handled

Apopka & Ocoee

Civil

Winter Park & Goldenrod

Records

266,447 customers

65,805 customer

ONLINE requests (Contact Us page)

We helped our customers with: 10,069

15,783

Marriage Licenses

Passports

1,806

130,737

Attorney consultations

Online Payments

(660 of them virtual)

Our Social Media Reach More followers connected with us to stay informed during the pandemic

4,629

Up by 10%

1,171

Up by 16%

825

Up by 97%

2,672

Up by 13%

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Legislative Update Pandemic Exposes Flawed Budget Model COVID-19 further exposed a flawed system that funds the important services the Clerk’s Office provides the community. That’s because the way these services are funded – by fines, fees, and court costs – is inadequate. The current system doesn’t account for other duties that don’t generate revenue. Today, with declining budgets, increasing workloads, and no ability to carry reserves – the system just doesn’t work. To the end, Clerks across the state have been seeking to work with the Legislature on several priority bills to fix the system that funds the public services you use.

Clerk’s State-Wide Budget

Operation Green Light Helps Nearly 1,000 Drivers Per Florida Statute, Clerk’s Offices in Florida are required to hold annual driver’s license reinstatement events to assist citizens. Our office was pleased to provide this service to the community again. Due to COVID-19, this year our October event went virtual for the first time. Our Operation Green Light Virtual Event helped nearly one thousand customers with payment options and payment plans to get them on the path to get their driver’s license reinstated. This program gives customers with outstanding traffic tickets and criminal fines a way to pay for overdue court obligations while saving the 25% collections agency surcharge. Our office will continue to host Operation Green Light events each year.

Need Payment Assistance?

As a reminder, you don’t have to wait for a special event to get payment assistance. Every day the Orange County Clerk of Courts can assist drivers with payment plans, payment contracts or payment extensions.

Click the coin icon for more information.

Evictions Moratorium & Evictions Diversion Program In the midst of the pandemic, several evictions moratoriums were enacted at the state and federal level, because so many Floridians were out of work. During that time, we wanted to make sure residents were aware of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners COVID-19 Eviction Diversion Program. The income-based program assisted Orange County’s most vulnerable tenants who are in imminent danger of eviction due to COVID-19 and provided the property owner and tenants with an alternative. While the Clerk’s Office is not allowed to provide legal advice per statute, we brought together key players such as lawyers, the judiciary, and county officials to inform the community about resources and their rights during two free virtual legal forums.

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Clerks Serve Valentine’s Day Mass Ceremony in the Jury Room Before there was a need to socially distance from one another, love was in the air everywhere at our offices on Valentine’s Day as a total of 94 couples “tied the knot” in 2020. Clerk Russell performed an exciting group wedding ceremony where nearly 20 couples said “I do” in the elegantly decorated courthouse jury room while friends, family, and staff witnessed the special occasion. As part of the Valentine’s Day package, couples were given photos, a certificate, and a red rose. Many thanks to our deputy clerks, facilities staff, and Court Administration who pitched in to make the day special for all those newly married couples.

Are you planning for your special wedding day?

Get started by going to our e-marriage application to start the process right online.

Click the heart icon to get started.

Need Legal Help? Ask a Lawyer We partner with the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) to host bi-monthly “Ask a Lawyer” events in the community.

The events are free, and you can even ask a lawyer questions at no cost. Through this collaboration citizens have an opportunity to speak with a panel of experienced attorneys to receive guidance on specific legal matters in an open forum. Our office also helps inform participants about the Clerk’s Office Self-Help Center. Each event focuses on legal topics such as family law, personal injury, bankruptcy, immigration, wills and advance directives, and landlord/tenant issues. Look for the latest “Ask a Lawyer” event at our website myorangeclerk.com.

In the Community Before the pandemic interrupted our normal community outreach plans, Clerk Russell was out in the community sharing information about access to justice, legal matters and voting.

Left: Clerk Russell spoke at the OCBA & Paul C. Perkins Bar Association luncheon. Center: Clerk Russell was a keynote speaker for the “Seventh Annual Guardian Care History Makers Heritage Celebration & Appreciation” event. Right: Clerk Russell served as a panelist for the “Black Women’s Triumphant Path to Voting” discussion at the League of Women Voters luncheon.

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Clerks CARE – Our Virtual Outreach Clerk’s Against Domestic Violence Virtual Workshop One of our community outreach priorities centers on domestic violence awareness. During Domestic Violence Awareness month, we held a virtual “Clerks Against Domestic Violence” by partnering with Harbor House of Central Florida, the Orlando Police Department, and the Victim Service Center. Yes, even a self-defense class the Orlando Police conducted was featured live on our Zoom webinar.

The workshop featured information on how to file a restraining order, stalking & cyber stalking awareness, and the self-defense class. This forum is always free and open to the public.

Each year our office holds an event to spread awareness about domestic violence , watch this video.

Affected by Domestic Violence?

If you or someone you know needs to file a restraining order, our office can help. Go to Restraining Orders for more information on filing a petition for a restraining order and tips for staying safe.

My Health Matters: Mental Health Awareness During COVID-19 To help ease anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clerk’s Office hosted a special informative mental health webinar.

The webinar featured timely mental health presentations, including information from our partners about dealing with stress during the pandemic. In cooperation with the Mental Health Association of Central Florida, Peer Support Space, Inc., and Aspire Health Partners, this webinar raised awareness to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. Representatives were also on hand to answer participants questions. Mental Health awareness is one of the top priorities for the Clerk’s Office, since we support you and your loved ones in filing a Baker Act or Marchman Act petition.

Could you use some helpful information to ease your mental health stress?

Watch our free mental health webinar we hosted for the community.

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Clerks CARE – Our Outreach Living United Even During Unprecedented Times Despite the challenges this past year, the Clerk Office was still able to raise a grand total of $21,946.67 for the Heart of the Florida United Way. Our committee created some new and innovative ways to raise money, since typical fundraising events could not be held. A cutest baby and pet contest and a few virtual events helped add to the pledge card totals.

We participate every year with Orange County Government to make a difference for those in need in our community through the United Way. Thank you to our employees for their ongoing support.

Letters of Courage Initiative Helps Survivors of Domestic Violence We are immensely proud of our deputy clerks who continue to demonstrate their passion for giving back to the community even during these challenging times. We participated in what was called “Letters of Courage”, an initiative that included writing letters of encouragement and support to domestic violence survivors. Deputy clerks wrote a grand total of 100 letters which included poems, banners, and small gifts. One deputy clerk even wrote 365 positive quotes! These letters were all delivered to Harbor House of Central Florida for women in their shelter. We hope that we were able to lift the spirits of survivors through this initiative.

Letters of Kindness For Senior Citizens The Clerk’s Office also wrote some much-needed encouragement to some of the most vulnerable in our community while they were essentially isolated during the pandemic. Deputy clerks created a grand total of 90 letters and drawings and small gifts. These were delivered to Guardian Care Nursing and Grand Palms Assisted Living & Memory Care nursing homes in Orange County to help lift the spirits of residents at these facilities. Our “Letters of Kindness” supported our seniors during a critical time as they battled loneliness and physical isolation due to COVID-19.

Deputy Clerks were all Decked Out for Denim Day Deputy Clerks made a point to wear denim to participate in Denim Day 2020.

Why? We joined millions of people across the world by wearing jeans to bring awareness to the misconceptions surrounding rape and sexual assault. “Denim Day” derives from a campaign that began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court. Read more about the origins of “Denim Day”, visit denimdayinfo.org

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

Check out our Clerk in the Sunshine page where you can find our approved budgets, and audits.

The Orange County Clerk’s total court related budget for fiscal year 2020 was $29.7 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.

Emergency Relief Funding Returned The pandemic created a major financial challenge for Clerks of Court across the state. Because of a statewide reduction in court revenue due to the pandemic, and a resulting reduction in our authorized budget locally of $3.9 million, the Clerk’s Office requested $1.5 million in emergency relief funding from the Orange County Board of Commissioners. But with conservative spending practices, limited hiring, and Federal CARES act reimbursements, Clerk Russell was able to return $1.3 million in emergency aid to the county. Clerk’s Offices across the state continue to work closely with the Florida Legislature and Governor’s Office to try and obtain other relief funding to fill the gap.

Our 2020 Finances | By the Numbers (Orange County Clerk - Court Only)

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

$80.3 million

Total Amount Collected in 2020 Total Disbursed (Per Statute) by Percentage: State Agencies

48%

We keep 33%

($26.8 million)

Orange County

11%

Local Municipalities & Agencies

8%

Claimed Money

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The Clerk’s Office was able to return more than 55 thousand dollars in unclaimed checks that 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 578 checks to 156 different parties, totaling $55,822.79.

Culture of Excellence

We celebrate our employees who go the extra mile to deliver the best service to you our customers. Our monthly Star Performer is a deputy clerk who has been nominated by a colleague as going above and beyond. Our quarterly Circle of Excellence Leadership award honors a manager or assistant manager who demonstrates outstanding leadership that’s in line with our Guiding Principles.

Kyle McLeod

Lisa Donnelly

Compliance Division

Civil Division

Jessica Bond

Brendalyn Hodge ce

Offi Project Management

Ana Torres Family Division

StephanievisWionoods

Jail Team

Family Di

Cathy vBicesaDcivaision

Financial Ser

Robert Hingston Apopka Division

Jessica Del R Civil Division

io

2021

Report to the Citizens of Orange County Locations

Orange County Courthouse 425 N. Orange Ave. Orlando, FL 32801

Apopka Branch

Ocoee Branch

Winter Park Branch

1111 N. Rock Springs Rd. Apopka, FL 34712

475 Story Rd. Ocoee, FL 34761

450 N. Lakemont Dr. Winter Park, FL 32792

I’m interactive!

For the best experience, scan the QR code to interact with this issue online and view all of the videos and resources shared throughout the annual report.

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This report is provided as a public service to the citizens of Orange County.

For more information, please contact Dain Weister Director of Communications and Public Affairs at 407-836-2053 or dain.weister@myorangeclerk.com

Office of Tiffany Moore Russell Orange County Clerks of Courts 407-836-2000

MyOrangeClerk.com