Senate panel backs revised plan to address $75 million clerk funding gap
Sen. Corey Simon
A Senate panel on Monday approved a revised proposal for addressing what the court clerks say is a $75 million shortfall in their operating budgets statewide.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted overwhelmingly to approve SB 532 by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee. It goes next to the Senate floor.
“Our clerks have been extraordinarily pressed over the past several decades,” Simon told the committee. “We’re hoping that we can finally get them in a good place so that they don’t have to keep showing back up at our county commissions asking for funding.”
The revised bill would permit court clerks to keep the 50 percent of “excess” fines and fees they collect — revenue that exceeds annual projections — that would normally flow back to state coffers.
“With this bill, the entirety of the cumulative revenue excess may be used for the development of the clerks’ total combined budget, rather than only 50% of such cumulative excess,” Simon said.
A staff analysis estimates the bill would generate an additional $13.2 million for the clerks in FY 2026-27.
The bill also requires all foreclosure sales to be conducted under clerk supervision. The provision is a response to a recent Miami Herald investigation that uncovered self-dealing in South Florida condominium foreclosure sales.
Last month, Simon substantially amended SB 532.
The bill originally called for imposing the first across-the-board increases in civil filing fees and service charges since 2008, when the Legislature last approved them.
Under the original bill, the cost of filing a claim in circuit court would have risen from $395 to $460 for suits naming up to five defendants. The $2.50 charge per each additional defendant would have doubled to $5.
In county court, the cost of filing a claim of $15,000 or more would have also risen from $395 to $460.
The service charge for certifying transcripts in appellate proceedings would have increased from $5 per page to $6 per page.
Combined, the proposed increases in filing fees and service charges would have generated $47 million in additional revenue, according to a staff analysis.
The increases would also trigger a constitutional amendment that requires tax and fee increases to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate.
Jason Welty, executive director for the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, was in the committee room Monday morning to signal the group’s support for Simon’s bill.
The House voted 114-0 on February 25 to approve HB 759 by Rep. David Smith, R-Winter Springs. Like Simon’s original bill, HB 759 calls for civil filing fee and service charge increases.
HB 759 raises filing fees and service charges across the board to a 2019 level — had they been tied to the Consumer Price Index in 2008.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved another clerk-related bill, HB 925 by Rep. Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce. The House could consider it this week.
HB 925 significantly raises the reimbursement rate the state pays to court clerks for waiving filing fees and service charges for domestic violence victims and the poor. The increases would be subject to annual legislative appropriations. Another provision of Trabulsy’s bill gives court clerks a greater share of traffic fines they collect — raising their 5% share to 28.2% and leaving clerks and local governments sharing an even, 28.2% split. According to a staff analysis, the traffic fine provision alone would generate an additional $8.1 million for clerks operating budgets statewide.
However, Trabulsy indicated that she might amend the traffic fine provision after Justice Budget Committee Chair Patt Maney, an Okaloosa Republican, expressed concern. Maney said he couldn’t support cutting local government revenue at a time when the House is proposing a property tax ballot measure that some estimates show could reduce local budgets 50% to 60% or more should voters approve.
Differences between House and Senate clerk proposals could be worked out through floor amendments or in a formal conference committee, but the time for doing so is running short.
The 60-day regular session is scheduled to adjourn March 13.
