governmental services - GORacine.org

FUND: GENERALCRIMINAL JUSTICE AND COURTSCLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT OFFICERoseanne Lee, Clerk of Circuit CourtOPERATING AUTHORITY AND PURPOSESection 59.40 of the Wisconsin Statutes and County ordinances govern the Clerk of Circuit Court office. Theoffice is responsible for all costs associated with the operation of the state court system in Racine County exceptthe salaries of the circuit court judges and court reporters. Racine County’s ten Circuit Court branches areorganized into the following divisions: civil, family, felony, juvenile, probate and traffic and misdemeanor. TheClerk’s office performs all administrative duties related to those courts and the jury process system. It generatesrevenue for the County and State by collecting and recording fees, fines, criminal forfeitures, and guardian adlitem reimbursements. In addition, the office serves the public and legal community by maintaining the RacineCounty Law Library.EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES Expanded court document scanning/imaging via CCAP, to reduce space need and increase access. Monitored court-appointed attorneys and guardians ad litem on assessment recovery and caseload; revisedState Public Defender guidelines have decreased number of court-appointed attorneys. Continued pursuit of discounted pricing arrangements with psychologists and psychiatrists. Expanded import of electronic citations, to move to a more paperless traffic court, increasing staff productivityand decreasing paper and storage costs. Kept in place a Cooperative Agreement with Child Support for recovery of partial wage reimbursements fromthe State of Wisconsin in carrying out the functions of the IV-D program under Wis. Stats. §§ 49.22 and59.35(5), and § 454 of the Federal Social Security Act. Continued various methods to pursue recovery of delinquent fines, fees, costs, psychological assessmentreimbursements, guardian ad litem, court-appointed attorney and juvenile legal fees. Continued tax refundintercept and implemented new methods, with strong emphasis on payment plans. Utilized summer help for scanning/imaging of court documents including back-scanning. Continued to recycle file folders from scanned documents, significantly reducing file folder costs. Updated and expanded “user friendly” website for “Pro Se” (self-represented) individuals. Consolidated management of Felony, Misdemeanor, Traffic and Juvenile divisions. Incorporated Family Court Commissioner into Clerk of Circuit Court’s office, changing locations of hearingsfrom offices to dedicated courtrooms and hearing rooms. Monitored collection agencies and added more agencies to encourage competition for greater returns. Pursued In-Court processing in all divisions and increased productive use of existing technologies. Continued overhaul of the financial division; imposing specific deadlines for staff. Pursued contracted Spanish Language Interpreters, including telephonic interpretation services.2013 GOALS AND BUDGET STRATEGIES Continue cross-training of the Civil, Family and Probate divisions. Continue cross-training of the Felony, Misdemeanor, Traffic and Juvenile divisions. Reclassify staff to more appropriate classification. Create FCC Hearing Rooms to promote more formalized, professional first appearances. Update FCC fees for services to be competitive with other counties in the Judicial District.PAGE 32 - 1