Legislative and Government Affairs
December 4, 2014
Tallahassee, Florida
LEGISLATIVE AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Christopher Campbell, Director
Cyndi Andrews, Court Services Specialist
Alex Nicholas, Manager
Sara Sanders, Legislative Analyst
Beth Allman, Senior Manager
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Legislative and Government Affairs
• Best Practices and Records
• Statutory Reporting, Assessment and
Collection
• Legislative Affairs
• Distribution Schedule
• Member Information Program
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Legislative and Government Affairs
• Part of the Association, our team provides
support to the elected Clerks of Court and
their staff, outside state agencies, including
Legislative staff, and the general public
• The team does research on various issues and
develops documentation for Clerks’ operations
• For critical issues throughout the state, the
team provides coordination and situation
resolution on behalf of the Clerks
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BEST PRACTICES AND RECORDS
Cyndi Andrews, Court Services Specialist
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Best Practices
• During the course of the year, the Best Practices Committee, chaired by the Honorable Marcia Johnson, Franklin County, chooses topics that are suggested for study and development into a Best Practice for Clerks’ Offices
• Once chosen, an issue is studied by experienced Clerk’s and association staff before presented to the Committee
• Routed through an approval process for publication.
• Working on a Best Practices Certification for Clerk’s Offices
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Best Practices Approved in 2014examples
1. Determination of Indigency (Revised)
2. Public Records Requests
3. Evidence Storage and Destruction (Revised)
4. Statewide Portal Guidelines
5. Standard Document Groups
6. Standard Docket Descriptions-Criminal
7. Orders Modifying Sentences
8. Reporting Mental Health to MECOM
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Records
• Clerks of the Court are the Keeper of the Record
• The public records are found in the court-side, the county-side and in the administrative side of Clerk’s Offices
• Records issues can appear in many areas, from retention, to redaction, to what can be recorded. Office emails are public in the Clerk’s Office
• Access to court records is currently being discussed in light of a recent Supreme Court order.
• The Records Committee is chaired by The Honorable Gail Wadsworth, Flagler County Clerk
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STATUTORY REPORTING
Alex Nicholas, Manager
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Statutory Reporting
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Statutory Reporting:• List of Clerks' Court-Related and Other Mandatory
Reports for:
Performance Reporting, Jury, Finance, Human
Resources, Criminal, Domestic Relations, Child
Support, Juvenile, Probate and Statistics as
required by statutes
Contains report category, name of report,
statutory authority, recipient and due date
Statutory Reporting
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Assessment and Collections Report• The Assessment and Collection Report is an annual
compilation of the Clerks’ recording of mandatory
and discretionary fines, fees and court costs
assessed by the Courts and money collected by the
Clerks
• Assessments and Collections Report is data
processed by the Court Clerks and provided to the
Legislature annually and used by the Legislative
decision-makers
LEGISLATIVE AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Sara Sanders, Legislative Analyst
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Legislative Program
• Provides support to the Honorable Karen Rushing, Legislative Chair, and Legislative Committee in the preparation of each year’s legislative agenda
• Tracks Clerk-related bills, respond to bill analysis requests, provide bill summaries, as needed
• Assists with legislative research, analysis, and formulation of reports, talk sheets, presentations, and any other necessary materials
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Legislative Program
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• At the conclusion of legislative session, prepares
annual Legislation of Interest document and
related advisories summarizing those identified
bills of interest, identifying key Clerk and
Comptroller points
• Annually updates and distributes the
Mandatory/Discretionary Form Matrix, pursuant
to Florida Statutes,
• Assists FCCC Support Desk and IT staff in
answering system access questions from Clerk
and non-Clerk users of the Comprehensive Case
Information System (CCIS)
REVENUE AND REMITTANCE, MEMBER INFORMATION PROGRAM
Beth Allman, Senior Manager, Government Affairs
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Revenue and Remittance
• The Distribution Schedule of Court-Related Filing
Fees, Services Charges, Costs and Fines shows
the breakouts for court-related fees and fines
and to what state trust fund they are owed
• The Records Committee has inserted a schedule
for the recording fees as well
• It is used as a guide for setting up Clerk
financial systems
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Revenue and Remittance
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• Developed in 2004, the Distribution Schedule aligns with the Department of Revenue (DOR) Clerks’ payment portal that Clerks are required to use
• The DOR portal allows to Clerks to send all
monies due to the state, by fund, by bank
account
• The Distribution Schedule has been widely
recognized and accepted by the legislature,
the trial courts, and local offices
Member Information Program
• Legislative and Government Affairs handles a
variety of information topics
• Members are advised through the advisory or
alert process, or guidance documentation on
issues of importance to Clerk’s offices
• Also handle contacts made by state agencies, the
Governor’s Office, news outlets, Clerks,
disgruntled constituents
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Legislative and Government Affairs
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•Best Practices and Records
•Statutory Reporting, Assessment and Collection
•Legislative Affairs
•Distribution Schedule
•Member Information Program
Legislative and Government Affairs
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There is a wealth of information on the Intranet.
• Best Practices http://www.flclerks.com/Intranet/Clerk_of_Court/Best_Practices/index_BP.html
• Assessment and Collection• http://www.flclerks.com/Intranet/Clerk_Info/a_c_reports.html
• Distribution Schedule• http://www.flclerks.com/Intranet/Clerk_Info/Misc_PDF/2014_docs/2014_Dis
tribution_Schedule_with_codes-7-1-2014-10-2014_FINAL.pdf
• Legislative Materialshttp://www.flclerks.com/Intranet/Clerk_Info/legislate.html