Clerks of Superior Court.
The county clerk is an independent elected official who serves as the clerk of the superior court. State law and local rules impose a variety of administrative duties for clerks associated with the operation of the courts, including processing court documents; assisting in court proceedings; maintaining court files, records, and exhibits; collecting and disbursing court fees, fines, and other collections; and issuing court orders and decrees.
Fees Collected by Clerks of Superior Court.
State law requires clerks of superior court to collect specified fees for their official services, including fees for filing:
In addition, clerks of superior court collect a fee from nonindigent adult defendants upon conviction or guilty plea, and upon failure to prosecute an appeal from a court of limited jurisdiction or affirmance of lower court convictions.
Exempt from filing fees are appeals by defendants in criminal cases, petitions for relinquishment of parental rights, forms and instructional brochures related to protection orders, and abstracts of judgment.
Revenue from superior court filing fees is split, with 46 percent going to the state and the remainder going to the county and the county or regional law library.
Surcharge on Fees Collected by Clerks of Superior Court.
In addition to collecting fees, clerks of superior court are also required to collect the following surcharges:
Revenue from superior court surcharge fees are split, with 75 percent going to the state and the remainder going to the county. State revenue from the surcharges must be remitted to the State Treasurer for deposit into the Judicial Stabilization Trust Account.
Clerks of superior court must collect an additional $80 surcharge on all filing fees collected by the clerk, with the exception of filing fees for antiharassment protection order petitions and the fees imposed on nonindigent adult defendants upon conviction or guilty plea, and upon failure to prosecute an appeal from a court of limited jurisdiction or affirmance of lower court conviction.
Of this surcharge, $60 must be transmitted by the county treasurer to the State Treasurer, with $20 allocated to the Public Defense Support Account, $20 allocated to the Court Interpreter Support Account, $5 allocated to the Library Archives Building Account, and $15 allocated to the Local Government Archives Account. The remaining $20 must be deposited with the county treasurer and retained in a clerk's Administrative Assistance Fund to be used for the county clerk's office operations.
Each county is directed to establish a County Clerk Administrative Assistance Fund held by the county treasurer and used exclusively for the statutory obligations of the county clerk's office. Expenditures from the fund may only be authorized by the county clerk and an appropriation is not required for expenditures. The fund is not subject to appropriation or budgets by the county legislative authority.
The Public Defense Support Account and the Court Interpreter Support Account are created in the State Treasury to consist of receipts from the $80 surcharge. Expenditures from the Public Defense Support Account may be used only to provide funding to the Washington State Office of Public Defense for the disbursement of funds to counties and cities for the purpose of improving the quality of public defense services pursuant to state law. Expenditures from the Court Interpreter Support Account may be used only to provide funding to the Administrative Office of the Courts for the purpose of reimbursing the costs of interpreter services pursuant to state law.
The substitute bill reduces the amount of the new surcharge from $100 to $80 and increases the state's portion of the new $80 surcharge from $35 to $60.
The substitute bill also creates the Public Defense Support Account and the Court Interpreter Support Account in the State Treasury to consist of receipts from the $80 surcharge. The substitute modifies how the state's portion of the surcharge is distributed with $20 going into the Public Defense Support Account, $20 going into the Court Interpreter Support Account, $5 going into the Library Archives Building Account, and $15, as opposed to $30 in the original bill, going into the Local Government Archives Account.
(In support) There is a lot of work to be done in clearing the backlog in the court system. Clerks are at the forefront of clearing court backlogs. Money from these fees would go to support the State Archives where the history of the state is preserved.
There is a budget shortfall. Although the Secretary of State's office receives money from various fees and processes, for the most part this money does not touch the Library Archives Building Account. Courts are not charged for collection of documents and this can get rather expensive. The building is also aging and often leaks, putting historical documents at risk. Document recording fees have dropped and there is no money to fund certain positions. Instead of drawing on the general fund, this bill will provide a more stable source of revenue to preserve documents.
The State Archives has a nexus and partnership with the clerks. County clerks have access to the State Archives system when their system goes down and customer service requests for records and certified copies come through the digital archives. The State Archives also collects those fees for clerks and sends the request on to them so they're not having that immediate interaction with those customers when they need a copy or a record or a certified copy. The State Archives holds this relationship with the clerks closely because the State Archives believes in their records and that they have archival value. The State Archives only collects about 2 percent of all government records that are brought in and yet this is overwhelming the building.
(Opposed) None.
Representative My-Linh Thai, prime sponsor; Steve Hobbs, Office of Secretary of State; and Heather Hirotaka, Office of Secretary of State.