Broward courts underfunded

Clerk funds can’t be diverted, judge rules

Broward’s Clerk of Courts Office has reduced customer service hours, cut back on staffing, and struggled to meet the county’s judicial needs because the state hasn’t lived up to its constitutional funding obligations, a judge has determined.

Based on her findings, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers ordered the state to stop diverting court filing fees collected in Broward County to other state programs.

The ruling could have statewide ramifications as other clerks have complained of insufficient funds coming from the state despite the amount of fees their offices are generating.

The court fees, which include money the public pays for traffic citations and other fines, as well as fees to file civil cases and other litigation, are the main source of revenue for the state’s court system.

Attorney Albert “Tico” Gimbel, who represented the clerk’s office in court, said state officials have turned their use of the court fees on its head.

“Instead of funding the needs of the [clerk’s] office first and taking what’s left over, they take what they need and leave the leftovers to the clerks to manage as best they can,” Gimbel said.

Representatives from the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Revenue declined to comment on Friday’s ruling in the Tallahassee court. The suit, originally filed in 2016 by former Broward Clerk of Courts Howard Forman, was against the Department of Revenue and the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Marcia M. Johnson, the Franklin County clerk of court and comptroller who currently serves as president of the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers association, hailed the ruling as a victory for all of the clerk offices in the state.

“This decision underscores our offices’ immediate need for adequate resources, and we look forward to working with the Legislature to develop a permanent and sustainable statewide funding solution,” Johnson said.

In the past, Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock has suggested she would have to lay off employees and reduce office hours because of budget cuts from the state Legislature.

Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin told The Miami Herald last year he would consider filing a lawsuit against the state similar to Broward’s if the Legislature didn’t come through with more money for the courts.

“The funding for clerks around the state has steadily declined over many years,” said a release issued by Broward Clerk of Courts Brenda Forman, who succeeded her husband in the post. The annual budgets for the 67 local clerk offices have been cut $63 million over the past five years, according to a report by the Florida Clerks of Courts Operations Corp., which oversees the funding of the local clerk offices.

The clerk offices collected $744.7 million in revenue last year, the report said. About half that money was distributed to other state entities, including $135.9 million to the state’s general fund, it said.

While Gievers said there is nothing wrong with the state using some of the court fees for other purposes, she said it is unconstitutional if the clerks aren’t getting enough money to perform their constitutionally required duties.

Gievers’ ruling included testimony that said the statewide needs were $460 million in each of the past three years, but the initial state funding was only $447 million in fiscal year 2016 (later reduced to $432.5 million), then down to $422 million last year and now at $409 million this year.

Jeffrey Sutton, chief financial officer for the Broward clerk’s office, said in court filings that the lack of sufficient funds has affected the office’s performance. Since the state established standards in 2005, the clerk’s office has not met all of the performance measures in any given fiscal year, he said, but the office has never received additional money for needed resources to meet the standards.