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Court costs exceed budgets
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- During the first 10 months of fiscal 2001, Hernando County spent a monthly average of $46,000 for costs associated with the state attorney and public defender offices. For the final weeks of the year, only $7,667 of the county's budgeted share for the state agencies remains. Higher than expected income from court fees and fines will cover some of the difference, and about $12,000 will come from budgeted judicial department reserves. Commissioners must approve a transfer from the general fund contingency account to make up the remaining $55,479. They don't like the expense. "This is state stuff," Commissioner Betty Whitehouse complained. "The question is, what are the options here?" asked Commissioner Diane Rowden. "We've got a state agency that's basically funded a lot through the county. What do you do?" For now, the answer is simple, said George Zoettlein, director of the county office of management and budget. The county must cough up the money, he said. The county's share of the two budgets has risen every year, Zoettlein said, from $173,901 in 1998 to $337,355 last year. With the additions, he said, the total this year will exceed $410,000 -- more than the agencies have requested for fiscal 2002. Anticipating ever-rising costs, Zoettlein said he plans to recommend adding another $62,000 to that budget "so we don't have to deal with this again next year." By 2004, these expenses should no longer be the county's responsibility. Florida changed its Constitution in 1972 to create a statewide court system from its hodgepodge of local, regional and state courts. "Voters were promised a state-funded court system, and that state-funded court system has never come into place," said John Ricco, governmental liaison for the Florida Association of Counties. In 1998, voters again amended the Constitution to require the state to pay the bulk of the costs by July 2004, relieving the counties of all but a handful of court costs. The Florida Association of Counties pushed for the change and continually monitors the transition, which has not progressed rapidly and remains for the time in the hands of a few legislative committees. "We don't think the Legislature is going to be too active in Article V revisions this term because they've got apportionment," said Howard "Skip" Babb Jr., public defender for Florida's 5th Judicial Circuit. The goal, Ricco said, is to create equity in the court system. Some small counties have the maximum allowed tax rate of 10 mills and cannot afford to pay the rising cost of court cases, he said. Jefferson County, for instance, faced bankruptcy without state assistance when it handled the British tourist murder trial of the mid-1990s, Ricco said. "You might not get the same justice in rural and urban courts because of the amount of money available by the county taxes," he said. "Counties have a very limited tax base with very few options. The state has a vast number of revenue sources available to it." It is the big cases that make budgeting difficult, Babb said. "What we do is guess what our costs are going to be at the beginning of the year," he said. "But if Ted Bundy's case were to come into Hernando County, all our budget figures would be blown out of the water." Also driving costs, Babb said, are mandatory sentences and larger numbers of appeals. This year, the Public Defender's Office asked for $20,000 for deposition copies. Through Aug. 7, it spent $43,510. Bill Catto, assistant state attorney for Hernando County, acknowledged a large jump in the number of depositions this year. More than the usual number of defendants are attacking the competency of their attorney, he explained. His office had overspent its budget for copies by only $1,175, but Catto said that is because the Public Defender's Office gets the originals and makes copies for the State Attorney's Office. "Who's going to turn down expenditures of that nature?" he said. "The other side is getting deposition copies; we're going to get copies. If we have to send a subpoena out, we're going to send a subpoena out." Pretrial consultation costs for the State Attorney's Office were budgeted at $17,000. Through Aug. 7, the agency had spent $32,200. Brad King, state attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit, attributed the difference to one expensive child abuse case, in which Dominic Waddy was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in jail for abusing his 10-month-old daughter. "It was an atypical kind of case," King said. "Experts that deal in that particular area of expertise demand a premium." The chance of overshooting the budget is an annual discussion point, King said. The question always comes up whether to put extra money for unusual circumstances into the budget or into a rainy day fund, he said. "They typically choose to budget us much more closely and take any overage out of the rainy day fund," King said. "We always discuss this." When the conversation comes up again during budget hearings in September, Zoettlein said he might recommend the commission be a little less conservative. The trend is clear, he said, while the revenue stream is not. "It could get worse until it gets better," Zoettlein said with a sigh. Commissioners will consider the fund transfer Tuesday as part of their consent agenda. - Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government, and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.
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