by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
According to the Duval County Courthouse administrator, jobs once dangerously close to the chopping block have been given a reprieve.
With Article Five Revision Seven of the Florida Constitution shifting interest and fiduciary responsibility of all municipal court systems to the State, Court Administrator Britt Beasley said about 40 full and part-time jobs were at one time left without a pocket to pull from.
The constitutional amendment will take effect in July.
In November, Beasley said he was fearful positions once required by the State, but funded locally, would be cut once the courts were streamlined.
Beasley was uncertain if the City would be willing to continue funding those positions, especially with the State collecting all of the revenue generated from filing fees and other revenue generated at the courthouse.
“It’s hard, really difficult to say,” he said. “I’m not sure what will happen if we can’t make some kind of arrangement. If it weren’t for this shift in funding, we could have continued to collect on the revenue generated in our clerk’s office.
“If the State doesn’t assume some of the funding we may be faced with the reality of having to eliminate them. That would be a shame because the the general consensus is that many of those positions have proven to directly benefit the City of Jacksonville.”
Now those jobs, which include Family Court case managers, quasi-judicial officers and various administrative positions will be funded by the State.
Despite the payroll shift, Beasley said pay rates and structures will remain the same.
“It’s been quite a transition while moving into Article Five, but we’re very pleased we’ve been able to address this problem,” said Beasley. “With secured funding we’ll be able to keep those jobs in place.”
Another courthouse expenditure, the Law Library and its staff, have also been saved.
“Yes we’ve also been able to make an arrangement for that as well,” he said. “After Article Five, the City will be funding it.”
Beasley was uncertain of annual Law Library costs, though said he expected the City to review expenditures in the future.
“Again we’re just very pleased we were able to recognize the necessary funding sources for these positions,” he said. “It wasn’t without a lot of hard work, but we’re relieved.”
For their part, Beasley said the courts would continue to refine their practices while awaiting for Article Five to become active.