Clerk’sCorner

Support the Florida Clerks of Court 2023 Legislative Priorities

As this year’s Florida legislative session kicks off this month, I’m again optimistic that legislators will do all they can to continue to stabilize the system that funds Clerks’ offices to protect critical services we provide the community and support the Court System.

First, I greatly appreciate the commitment legislators have shown to help and support the Clerk of Courts funding structure. We are very grateful the legislature worked with us on significant structural changes enacted over the past few years through the passage of SB 838 by Senator Boyd (2021) and HB 397 by Representative Clemons (2022). The incremental changes captured in those bills have no doubt brought more stability to the system that funds Clerk services.

These bills provided assistance to the Clerk’s statewide budgeting process, established a new process in statute to improve the cost and workload for mental health and substance abuse case types, enhanced payment options, and improved efficiency and customer service for certain driver’s license reinstatements.

However, Clerk budgets are still largely dependent on funding from fines, fees, and court costs – especially civil traffic citations. Even with all the help and the backfill appropriations, Clerks across the state essentially have the same statewide budget as we had about a decade ago.

This upcoming session, Florida’s Clerks of Court are rallying behind the 2023 Clerk Legislative Priorities to create a more sustainable, long-term solution. Our new proposals are mostly captured in three main pieces. We are seeking to:

• Diversify Clerk Revenues by redirecting the statutory distribution of certain revenues for court-related services, enabling Clerks of Court to retain more revenue for the services they provide (ex. Foreclosure filing fees, Issuance of Summons, Dissolution of Marriage)

• Support Staffing Needs by providing new mechanisms to handle increases in the Florida Retirement System (FRS) for Court-related employees; and

• Account for Additional No-Fee Services by providing a state reimbursement process for certain public services and approved civil indigency cases where fees are currently waived.

I am pleased we have been able to work together with legislators to make progress in recent years. I am thankful this year’s proposed legislation builds on the framework set in the 2022 legislative session to further stabilize funding sources for Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers.

Thank you for continuing to support the 2023 Clerk legislative priorities. To learn more, please go to www.FLCClerks.com/ Page/2023LegislativePriorities.

April 28-30, 2023

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