Lawmakers agree on a measure mandated by voters that shifts most of the burden for the courts to the state.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published April 30, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Judges and county officials were relieved Thursday when the Florida House sent to the governor a measure to fund the $235.7-million court system through increased fees and fines.
The Legislature waited until nearly the last moment to meet a 6-year-old, voter-approved, constitutional mandate that forced the state to take a bigger role in financing the courts. Judges spent the past year warning that lawmakers were jeopardizing the courts with spending cuts aimed at programs ranging from teen courts to law libraries.
After months of negotiations, the Legislature funded the courts without major cuts. If Gov. Jeb Bush agrees, the state on July 1 will take over most of the court system, which would depend on user fees rather than property taxes.
"We're very pleased with the budget and we feel as if we've been very fairly treated," said Circuit Judge Susan Schaeffer, who represented the trial courts in negotiations with lawmakers.
The bill (CS SB 2962) includes:
A $4 hike in recording fees, raising $104-million for computers and other technology, which is still a county responsibility.
A $28 increase in the $55 divorce filing fee and a $5 reduction in the $25 marriage license, raising an estimated $2.5-million for domestic violence programs.
A $50 increase in the $300 Supreme Court filing fee.
A new $100 fee for all out-of-state lawyers not admitted to the Florida Bar who want to represent a party in any Florida court.
The increased fines and fees make the clerks of court system entirely self-sufficient, with $75-million to $100-million left over for the state to fund the courts, said Fred Baggett, an attorney for the Florida Association of Court Clerks.
County leaders also are satisfied.
"We're pleased with the bill, which has been a six-year battle," said Mary Kay Cariseo, executive director of the Florida Association of Counties.
With the state assuming more of the court tab, counties statewide will see an estimated $115-million to $130-million freed up. And Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, has said the counties should use some of that to pay for holding juveniles awaiting trial, now a state responsibility.
But increased fines and fees now nearly completely support the court system.
The chambers are poised to pass the bill that shifts that cost today. It's already in the budget.
"We should have picked up the courts and we should not have been trading and exchanging other things, because the voters told us in the constitutional amendment that we are going to pick up the courts," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors.
