by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
With roughly 11 months remaining before Article 5 takes effect, there’s a growing concern inside the Duval County Courthouse over what’s changing and who will benefit.
“That’s a good question,” said Court Administrator Britt Beasley. “From what I’m observing, it doesn’t appear to have any direct benefits for the City.”
Article 5 removes county courts from local control, giving the State responsibility for the system.
With the State assuming control, Beasley said costs will go up, but the money collected will go directly to a State-controlled trust fund.
“If it weren’t for this shift in funding, we could have continued to collect on the revenue generated in our clerk’s office,” said Beasley, referencing a now-defunct ordinance that proposed increased fees, fines and penalties to supplement court operations and future construction funds.
“Article 5 has eliminated that significant source of funding,” said Beasley. “Something like this was very difficult for the voters to understand, based on the information that was originally provided. It’s a very, very complex issue and now the courts are having to make due with less funding.”
And though the City will continue to pay for utilities and security at the courthouse, Clerk of the Courts Jim Fuller echoed Beasley’s concerns.
“The voters probably didn’t know what they were voting on and I can tell you right now that even some of the City Council members who were lobbying to get this through were wishing it never passed,” said Fuller. “They all thought the State would just assume financial responsibility for the courts and we would get to keep all of the money we collected. It’s not happening like that at all. If you took a vote right now, I’m sure most people would say they would want to go back to the way it was before.”
Further adding to budget concerns inside the courthouse are State mandates prohibiting additional court fees at the local level.
“The City can’t attach anything else on to what’s already been added,” said Fuller. “No one may even notice a change from an operations standpoint, but it’s going to be a lot different behind the scenes.”
Beasley and Fuller said some jobs and many programs deemed “therapeutic” by the State may find themselves on the chopping block if money isn’t made available. The Teen Court and the Guardian Ad Litem are two such programs.
“If the State doesn’t assume funding for the programs and positions currently provided by the City, we may be faced with the reality of having to eliminate them if someone doesn’t contribute,” he said. “That would be a shame because the the general consensus is that many of those positions haven proven to directly benefit the city of Jacksonville.”
In the meantime, a running dialogue has been established with the mayor’s office and Fuller said he isn’t worried about any possible cuts.
“It’s up to the mayor, but we’re looking at that right now with [CFO] Walt Bussells and [Director of Finance] Cal Ray,” he said. “We’ve already had some good meetings with them and we’re really just trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of it. The bottom line is that the programs that have proven to be beneficial for the voters won’t go away. It will just be a matter of figuring out which bucket of money we’re going to take from to make it happen.”
Fuller also addressed speculation that his office stands to make money because of Article 5.
“The clerk’s office is not going to be sitting on a pile of money because we’re making the transition into becoming a fee-based office,” he said. “We’re not going to be a cash cow for the courthouse. That’s absolutely not true. It’s all very tightly controlled and the law is very specific about what we do with the money. I’m not going to have a safe with $15 million inside in my office and I don’t get to say who gets what at the end of the day. I doesn’t make sense for me to do that. I submit a budget and whatever I don’t spend goes back to the State Department of Revenue and they redistribute it to the courts — and there’s a lot of them — who can’t make it on fee-based budget.”
Roughly 80 percent of the clerk’s budget will be allocated for employee salaries and benefits with the rest being set aside for technology and supplies.
“Despite what people may think, the clerk does not keep or distribute any money,” said Gordon Morgan, chief assistant clerk. “We’re more of a conduit. We collect and we pass it along.”
Fuller added the relationship between his office the judiciary won’t change either.
“Our role won’t change,” he said. “We’re an integral part to the judicial system, but our purpose is to keep records and provide them when the judges need them. We support the judges. That’s why we’re here and that won’t change.”