by Liz Daube
Staff Writer
When Jim Fuller introduces himself as Duval County’s Clerk of Court, he often gets a blank stare in return.
“Most people don’t even have a clue what I do,” said Fuller. “A lot of people think I’m a secretary and I answer phones.”
Fuller’s job is a bit more extensive than answering phones. He’s responsible for the performance of 470 employees who deal with a variety of city and county documents and activities: marriage licenses, mortgages, evictions, traffic tickets, trial evidence, adoptions and felony and misdemeanor charges, just to name a few.
The cubicles and counters that Fuller oversees teem with activity. People type, file, talk, write, copy, print. Some visitors are waiting, unsure of which department they will have to visit next and how much they will need to pay. A visit to the clerk’s office can be frustrating and Fuller said he trains employees to make those visits easier.
“If you’re not getting married or adopting somebody, you’re usually not in a good mood when you come here,” he said. Fuller added that his department processes about 7,000 traffic tickets and sends out 1,000 jury duty notices each week. “My people have to deal with a lot of attitudes. But I try to teach them that the customer is the product.”
As he walks through each department, Fuller often receives a casual nod or a “How are you, Mr. Fuller?” He keeps an eye on operations by talking to a variety of employees.
“My goal is to see my people and see what’s going on, what could be done better,” said Fuller. “I see all my people at least once a day.”
It’s an extensive task considering the locations: multi-floored operations at the County Courthouse, a beach branch, a traffic-only location, a domestic violence branch and a Southside evidence warehouse. Plus, Fuller said some of the courthouse departments will be shifting to the City Hall Annex soon to make room for more courtrooms.
“We really need a new courthouse. As Duval County grows, we continue to grow,” said Fuller. He noted that he doesn’t expect to see the new one built before he retires – and he doesn’t plan on retiring for years to come.
Before Fuller was elected Clerk of Court in 2000, he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Since starting his role as clerk, he said he’s tried to make the office more efficient. Fuller said he wants the office as paperless as possible.
For example, attorneys can file some documents online now rather than walk or drive to the courthouse. Fuller said some older documents are fragile because of their age, so they are being scanned and made into digital, reprintable copies.
“The best way to preserve this stuff and keep it is to digitize it,” said Fuller. “It takes money and it takes a long time, but I can give you the first plat done in Jacksonville and it’s on a brand new sheet of paper.”
A plat is a scaled map that shows how land is divided. Fuller’s office has gathered many historic plats created before the Great Fire of 1901, which destroyed many important documents. The plats are neatly arranged in drawers, but they’re also available on a computer for easy access.
Fuller said the office is at least a year and a half away from becoming as paperless as possible. He added that he wants to stay in office and he plans to run again when his current term expires in 2008.
“I‘d like to stay here as long as I can,” said Fuller. “I’m only 57, so I think I have a lot of years left in me.”