State budget cuts are forcing Florida’s Court Clerks to cut at least 259 staff.
The Broward County Clerk of Courts has eliminated 14 employees, and will cut at least 34 more before the end of June. Eighty-one positions will be left vacant. The Clerk employs over 900 poeple.
The Miami-Dade County Clerk will lay off 145 people and cut 83 vacant positions.
And the Palm Beach County Clerk will cut 66 employees through layoffs and voluntary departures.
Most counties in the US have an elected county clerk, whose responsibilities typically include election administration, and the collection and filing of vital records such as birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage licenses. A county clerk may also be the clerk to the local court system, with responsibilities for accepting and maintaining case files and other legal records.
What I don’t understand is why the Courts don’t get all the people with 30 plus years who are eligable to retire – give them a good retirement package and send them on their happy way instead of laying off new people and those with less than 10 years who have to work and who they pay less money to. That would have made much more sense. I don’t know where these decisions come from or who makes them but I can’t believe I am the only one who thought of this!