Fla. Court Clerks' Budgets Restored by $29.5 Million, Following $40 Million Cut
Corrected: Florida lawmakers agreed today to let state court clerks spend an additional $29.5 million, following budget cuts that jeopardized hundreds of jobs.
Without the extra funds, the Associated Press reports, court clerks were faced with closing branch offices and cutting office hours, in addition to laying off staff. The Florida House had demanded a $40 million cut in the court clerks’ spending in the state’s last legislative session; the Senate “supported full funding but agreed to split the difference,” according to the AP.
“This action will allow the clerks to return to normal business hours and allow us to serve our communities, our people, our businesses, the courts in the way they have a right to expect,” Leon County Clerk of Courts Bob Inzer told the Legislative Budget Commission.
The $29.5 million, the AP reported earlier, comes from court fees and fines.
Updated on Aug. 17 to change a “billion” to a “million.”
