Budget Cuts Hurt Worse Than Paper Cuts

Most of us have jobs and understand the strain and stress that comes from being in a working environment. Few of us, however, can truly understand the stress that Clerk of the Circuit Court Pat Frank is under these days. Imagine that you show up to work and find that your workload has been doubled. Then you realize that most of the people who were there to help share this workload have been laid off. Welcome to Pat Frank's world.




The Hillsborough County Courthouse is a major point of interest in the county. It contains many departments that are relied on heavily by our judicial system. It contains departments that handle civil, domestic violence and felony cases. There are also departments for juvenile court, misdemeanor cases and traffic court. Clerks at the courthouse have to keep records from all these departments, as well as evidence records and all of the minutes for every Hillsborough County Commissioner's meeting. They even keep the commissioners' voting records. Frank also says that she is in charge of investment portfolios for the county that equal around 1.8 billion dollars.

Also, the county has seen a rise in petty theft, domestic violence and home foreclosures. This is due to the current recession and it means more work for the employees at the courthouse. However, the recession is also taking its toll on the courthouse in a different way.

According to Frank, the Hillsborough County Courthouse is looking at a possible 8% cutback in its budget. This would mean cutting employee's salaries or letting some employees go. These cutbacks have forced Frank and the courthouse to prioritize its departments. For example, the felony and domestic violence departments would be less likely to face cutbacks because their cases are a higher priority than say traffic court. The last cutback caused 117 vacancies, and this one would mean even more vacancies and fewer staff to help with all this work.

All of this comes at a crucial time to the courthouse. Frank says that they are currently trying to digitize many of their public records in order to maintain them over time and allow for easier access. Frank says that many of the records are currently held in a wear house that could not withstand 110mph hurricane winds, which can be common to Florida. These records could be destroyed and lost forever. The problem is that cutbacks are causing the digitization process to take much longer. Only 8 million records were digitized in the last 6 months and that pace will become even more sluggish if the 8% budget cutback takes effect this May.

Frank hopes that judges will advocate to the legislature on the courthouse's behalf. If they don't, then the courthouse could be in for a world of hurt.

To search some of the public records at the courthouse, visit the links below.

Clerk of the Circuit Court

Court Progress Docket Search

13th Judicial Court

Official Records Search