This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA
DATE: 4/11/2023
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 977 Clerks of Court
SPONSOR(S): Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, Botana and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 1130
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Civil Justice Subcommittee 18 Y, 0 N Mawn Jones
2) Justice Appropriations Subcommittee 15 Y, 0 N, As CS Smith Keith
3) Judiciary Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The State Constitution mandates that there be an elected clerk of the circuit court (clerk) in each of Florida’s 67
counties to serve as ex officio of the board of county commissioners, auditor, official records recorder, and
custodian of all county funds. As an officer of the court, the clerk serves in a ministerial capacity, and his or her
duties and authority are conferred entirely by law, which duties include the performance of court-related
functions, compliance with court-related technology mandates, and the payment of mandatory Florida
Retirement System (FRS) employer contributions.
Much of the funding for the clerks’ annual operating budgets comes from the fines, fees, service charges, and
costs collected by the clerks in connection with judicial proceedings (revenue) and submitted into the Florida
Clerk of Court Trust Fund (FCC Trust Fund) for distribution. However, such revenue does not go entirely to the
clerks. Florida law directs the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) to distribute such revenue among the
clerks, municipalities, counties, 51 state trust funds with various purposes, and the state’s General Revenue
Fund.
The bill:
Provides for the redirection of specified revenue from the General Revenue Fund totaling approximately
$25.6 million annually over the next five years for deposit into specified trust funds for use by the clerks
in performing court-related functions.
Changes the remissions period for the submission of budget allocation overages from monthly to
quarterly to address cash flow problems sometimes created by the monthly remittance requirement.
The bill may have a significant fiscal impact on state and local governments. See Fiscal Analysis and
Economic Impact Statement.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2023. STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA PAGE: 2
DATE: 4/11/2023
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Clerks of the Circuit Court
The Florida Constitution mandates that there be an elected clerk of the circuit court (clerk) in each of
Florida’s 67 counties to serve as ex officio of the board of county commissioners, auditor, official
records recorder, and custodian of all county funds.
1
As an officer of the court, the clerk serves in a
ministerial capacity, and his or her duties and authority are conferred entirely by law.
2
Such duties
include the performance of court-related functions, such as:
Case maintenance;
Records management;
Court preparation and attendance;
Collection and distribution of fines, fees, service charges, and court costs;
Processing case assignment, reopening, reassignment, and appeals;
Processing of bond forfeiture payments;
Data collection and reporting;
Determination of indigent status;
3
and
Paying reasonable administrative costs to enable the clerks to carry out these functions.
4
Funding for Court-Related Functions
Much of the funding for the clerks’ annual operating budgets comes from collected revenues including
judicial proceeding fees,
5
services charges,
6
fines, and court costs that are deposited into the Florida
Clerk of Court Trust Fund (FCC Trust Fund).
7
However, such revenue does not go entirely to the clerks.
Florida law directs the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) to distribute such revenue amongst the
clerks, municipalities, counties, 51 state trust funds of various statutory functions, and the state’s
General Revenue Fund.
8
Consequently, in Fiscal Year 2021-22, only 54 percent of the collected
revenue remained with the clerks while all other funds were allocated to other entities.
9
These revenue sources can also be unstable, resulting in instability in budgeting even where
anticipated expenditures remain stable or actually increase over time.
10
As such, the clerks’ annual
1
The clerk of the circuit court is elected by the county’s electors to serve a four-year term. Art. V, s. 16 and Art. VIII, s. 1, Fla. Const.;
Florida Department of State, County Governments, https://dos.myflorida.com/library-archives/research/florida-
information/government/local-resources/fl-counties/ (last visited April 5, 2023).
2
“Ministerial” means acting “in a prescribed manner in obedience to the mandate of legal authority, without the exercise of the person’s
own judgment or discretion as the propriety of the action taken.” The clerk may appoint deputies, for whose acts the clerk is liable,
which deputies have the same power as the clerk, excepting the power to appoint deputies. Ss. 28.06 and 112.312(17), F.S.
3
Florida law exempts an indigent person from paying specified fees, charges, and costs in any judicial proceeding. A person seeking to
be designated indigent must apply to the clerk for a determination of his or her status, which application must meet specified statutory
requirements. A person is considered “indigent” if he or she has an annual income equal to or below 200 percent of the federal poverty
guidelines or is receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families-Cash Assistance, poverty-related veterans’ benefits, or
supplemental Social Security income. Ss. 57.081 and 57.082, F.S.
4
S. 28.35(3)(a), F.S.
5
Filing fees which the clerks must charge are generally set out in s. 28.241, F.S. Certain filings for which the clerks may not charge a
filing fee, set out elsewhere in Florida law, include a petition for a protective injunction against domestic, repeat, dating, or sexual
violence. See, e.g., ss. 741.30 and 784.046, F.S.
6
Service charges which the clerks must charge are generally set out in s. 28.24, F.S.
7
Other funding sources include grants and payments remitted by counties for the performance of county-related functions.
8
Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, Bill Analysis for HB 977 (Mar. 7, 2023).
9
Specifically, in FY 2021-22, the clerks collected $803.5 million in revenue, which revenue was distributed as follows: $435.9 million to
the clerks; $143.5 million to the General Revenue Fund; $100.4 million to various state trust funds; $79.8 million to the state courts
system; $25.7 million to the state attorneys; and $18.2 million to the public defenders. Id.; Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers,
Revenue Distribution Chart (2023) https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.flclerks.com/resource/resmgr/legislative/2023_session/comms/2023-
legpriorities-distribut.pdf (last visited April 5, 2023.
10
Traffic citations fines historically made up the bulk of the revenue collected by the clerks, but the issuance of such citations has
declined in recent years. Bill Analysis, supra note 8. STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA PAGE: 3
DATE: 4/11/2023
operating budgets largely decreased between Fiscal Years 2010-11 and 2020-21, resulting in a Fiscal
Year 2020-2021 budget that was approximately $41 million less than the budget for Fiscal Year 2010-
2011.
11
According to the clerks, though the budgets for Fiscal Years 2021-22 and 2022-23 did increase
to levels comparable to budgets from ten years ago, the unpredictability of the revenue sources make
the likelihood of continued increases, or at least budget stability, uncertain. The clerks indicate that they
currently have a $36.5 million funding gap between their allocated and need-based budgets, with
expenditures expected to increase.
12
Court-Related Functions
The Florida Constitution mandates that funding for much of the clerks’ court-related functions come
from collected revenue deposited into the FCC Trust Fund.
13
Additionally, each clerk must create a Fine
and Forfeiture Fund for use by the clerk’s office in its execution of court-related functions. The Fine and
Forfeiture Fund must consist of specified fines, fees, and costs which the clerk is authorized to retain or
which are otherwise directed to the Fund.
14
Budget Procedures
On or prior to June 1
st
of each year, each clerk must prepare, summarize, and submit a proposed
budget to the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC)
15
in the manner and form
prescribed by the CCOC.
16
The proposed budget must:
Provide detailed information on the anticipated revenues available and expenditures necessary
for the performance of court-related functions for the fiscal year beginning October 1; and
Be balanced such that the total of the estimated revenues available
17
equals or exceeds the
total of the anticipated expenditures.
18
If a clerk estimates that his or her available funds in addition to projected revenues are insufficient to
meet anticipated expenditures, the clerk must report the revenue deficit to the CCOC.
19
If the CCOC
verifies that a revenue deficit is likely, the CCOC must certify the deficit and notify the DOR that the
clerk will, as required by statute, retain collected revenues in an amount necessary to fully fund the
projected revenue deficit, which revenues the clerk would otherwise have to remit to DOR for deposit
into the FCC Trust Fund.
20
If a revenue deficit is still projected for that clerk after retaining revenues as described above, the
CCOC must certify the revenue deficit amount to the Executive Office of the Governor (EOG) and
request release authority for additional funds from the FCC Trust Fund.
21
The EOG may approve the
11
Meanwhile, the annual operating budgets for related agencies increased over that same time period. Florida Clerks & Comptrollers,
Florida Clerks’ Unique Budget History,
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.flclerks.com/resource/resmgr/legislative/2023_session/comms/2023-legpriorities-10yearbud.pdf (last
visited April 5, 2023); Florida Clerks & Comptrollers,10-Year Budget Increase Comparison
12
Id.
13
Selected salaries, costs, and expenses of the state courts system may also be funded from such fees, charges, and costs as
provided by general law. Art. V, s. 14, Fla. Const.
14
S. 142.01, F.S.
15
The CCOC is the legislatively-created statewide budget, performance management, and court-related training office for the clerks.
Part of its duties include reviewing and recommending to the Legislature changes in the statutorily-specified amounts of fines, fees,
service charges, and court costs to ensure reasonable and adequate funding for the clerks in their performance of court-related
functions; such recommendations typically focus on redistributing revenue rather than increasing such amounts. Bill Analysis, supra
note 8; S. 28.35, F.S.
16
S. 28.36, F.S.
17
“Estimated revenues available” may include the fines, fees, charges, and costs to be collected by the Clerk in the upcoming fiscal
year and the total of unspent budgeted funds for court-related functions carried forward by the Clerk from the previous county fiscal
year and the portion of the balance of funds remaining in the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund after the transfer of funds to the General
Revenue Fund which has been allocated to the Clerk by the CCOC. Id.
18
Id.
19
Id.
20
Id.
21
Id. STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA PAGE: 4
DATE: 4/11/2023
release of such funds and provide notice of such approval to DOR and the Chief Financial Officer
(CFO). The DOR must then request monthly distributions from the CFO in equal amounts to each clerk
certified to have a revenue deficit.
22
Once a clerk receives his or her court-related budget allocation for the fiscal year, the total is divided by
12 to give an estimated monthly budget allocation. In the event that the clerk collects in excess of the
monthly projection, the clerk must submit such additional amount to the FCC Trust Fund by the 10
th
of
the following month.
23
Such revenue is then redistributed to clerks in counties that do not bring in
sufficient revenue to fund their budget allocations.
24
At the end of each fiscal year, the CCOC goes through a “settle-up” process to determine which clerks
submitted more than necessary to, or received more than necessary from the FCC Trust Fund. Upon
determination, moneys are payed from or collected by the FCC Trust Fund to remedy the imbalance.
This process sometimes creates month-to-month cash-flow problems for clerks who overpaid into the
fund as the funds are not reimbursed until the end of the fiscal year.
25
Effect of Proposed Changes
HB 977 makes several changes to Florida law to close the funding gap between the clerks’ current
revenues and anticipated expenditures so that they can provide essential court-related functions.
Budget Procedures
The bill changes the remissions period for the submission of budget allocation overages to the FCC
Trust Fund from monthly to quarterly and the basis for such submissions from a monthly calculation to
a quarterly calculation. This may address the month-to-month cash flow problems created when
overage payments are remitted monthly, as it would allow the clerks to consider shortages in the
surrounding months of the quarter to create a more accurate picture of a clerk’s revenues.
Funding
Court-Related Functions
The bill redistributes funds from specific sources that would otherwise be deposited into the General
Revenue Fund and directs them to be deposited into the Fine and Forfeitures Trust Fund.
These revenue sources include:
The $37.50 filing fee for a petition for dissolution of marriage;
26
The General Revenue Fund’s allotted share of various probate proceeding filing fees;
27
A portion of the General Revenue Fund’s allotted share of the foreclosure filing fees for claims
valued at over $50,000; and
28
The $10 summons surcharge.
29
The bill provides for the redirection of specified revenue from the General Revenue Fund totaling
approximately $25.6 million annually over the next five years for deposit into specified trust funds for
use by the clerks in performing court-related functions.
30
22
Id.
23
Bill Analysis, supra note 8.
24
Id.
25
Id.
26
This would redirect about $2.3 million per year. Bill Analysis, supra note 8.
27
The portion of the probate filing fees currently allotted to the General Revenue Fund varies depending on the type of filing. This would
redirect about $2 million per year. Id.; S. 28.2401, F.S.
28
Under current law, $195 of each foreclosure filing fee is directed to the Fine and Forfeiture Fund. The bill would increase the amount
directed to the fund to $545 where the claim is valued at more than $50,000 but less than $250,000 and to $660 where the claim is
valued at $250,000 or more. This would redirect about $10.8 million per year. Id.; S. 28.241, F.S.
29
This would redirect about $11.2 million per year. Bill Analysis, supra note 8. STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA PAGE: 5
DATE: 4/11/2023
Miscellaneous Provisions
The bill:
Deletes an obsolete provision related to the distribution of specified filing fees remitted to the
DOR for deposit into the General Revenue in Fiscal Year 2018-2019.
Provides an effective date of July 1, 2023.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1: Amends s. 28.101, F.S., relating to petitions and records of dissolution of marriage;
additional charges.
Section 2: Amends s. 28.2401, F.S., relating to service charges and filing fees in probate matters.
Section 3: Amends s. 28.241, F.S., relating to filing fees for trial and appellate proceedings.
Section 4: Amends s. 28.37, F.S., relating to fines, fees, service charges, and costs remitted to the
state.
Section 5: Provides an effective date of July 1, 2023.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
The Revenue Estimating Conference considered the bill on March 24, 2023, and determined it
would have a significant negative fiscal impact on revenues deposited into the state General
Revenue Fund.
31
See Fiscal Comments.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
The Revenue Estimating Conference considered the bill on March 24, 2023, and determined it
would have a significant positive fiscal impact on revenues retained by the clerks of the court.
32
See
Fiscal Comments.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
30
Revenue Estimating Conference (REC), SB 1130 and HB 977, March 24, 2023,
http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/conferences/revenueimpact/archives/2023/pdf/page284-287.pdf (last visited Apr. 5, 2023).
31
REC, supra note 52.
32
Id. STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA PAGE: 6
DATE: 4/11/2023
The bill revises several statutes relating to authorized charges and filing fees which clerks impose when
conducting their daily functions. The redirection of these revenues from the General Revenue Fund to
the clerk’s trust funds results in a significant negative impact to General Revenue Fund receipts and a
significant positive impact to local trust funds. The total impact of funds being redirected in the bill from
the General Revenue Fund to clerks’ local trust funds averages $25.6 million over the next five years.
33
Dissolution of Marriage Petition
When a party petitions for a dissolution of marriage, in addition to filing charges authorized in s. 28.241,
F.S., clerks are authorized to collect and receive a charge of $37.50 which is currently deposited into
the General Revenue Fund.
34
Section 28.101, F.S., is revised to redirect charges relating to the
dissolution of marriage petitions; resulting in an estimated average of $2.5 million in revenue over the
next five years being redirected from the General Revenue Fund to the clerks’ Fine and Forfeiture
Funds.
35
Probate Filing Fees
Section 28.2401, F.S., authorizes clerks to impose a service charge and filing fees in certain probate
matters. The bill revises s. 28.2401, F.S., so that a portion of the service charge and filing fees in
probate matters are redirected from the General Revenue Fund to the clerk’s Fine and Forfeiture
Funds, resulting in an estimated average of $2.0 million in fees annually over the next five years being
redirected.
36
Filing Fees
Section 28.241, F.S., authorizes foreclosure filings fees when the claim value is more than $50,000 but
less than $250,000, and for claims that are more than $250,000, which are currently deposited into the
General Revenue Fund. The bill revises distributions so that half of the amount from foreclosure filings
are split between, and deposited in, the General Revenue Fund and the clerks’ Fine and Forfeiture
Funds. This results in an estimated average of $8.5 million in fees annually over the next five years
being redirected.
37
Summons Issuance Fees
Section 28.241(1)(d), F.S., authorizes clerks to collect a service charge of $10 for issuing an original
copy, a certified copy, or an electronic copy of a summons, and deposit those collections into the
General Revenue Fund. The bill revises that deposits to the General Revenue Fund from the
aforementioned service charges be redirected to the clerks’ Fine and Forfeiture Funds,
38
with an
estimated average of $12.5 million over the next five years.
39
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not applicable. The bill does not appear to require counties or municipalities to spend funds or take
action requiring the expenditure of funds; reduce the authority that counties or municipalities have to
33
Id.
34
S. 28.101(1)(c), F.S.
35
REC, supra note 52.
36
Id.
37
Id.
38
Id.
39
Id. STORAGE NAME: h0977c.JUA PAGE: 7
DATE: 4/11/2023
raise revenues in the aggregate; or reduce the percentage of state tax shared with counties or
municipalities.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
Not applicable.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
On April 11, 2023, the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee adopted one amendment and reported the bill
favorably as a committee substitute. The amendment removed several sections of the bill relating to:
Duties of the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation regarding annual budget requests;
Collection requirements for specified filing fees and penalties collected by the clerks;
Authorization for requesting specific reimbursements for certain due process costs and civil
indigency applications; and
Amendments made to ss. 741.30, 784.046, and 784.0485, F.S., relating to budget requests
associated with the assessment of filing fees for a petition for protection against domestic
violence, repeat violence, sexual violence, dating violence, and stalking.
This analysis is drafted to the committee substitute as passed by the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee.