Clerk of Court George E. Schaefer
Supervising Deputies Criminal Gerald L. Stokes
Chief Deputy Thomas A. Larson
Law and Chancery DaVida M. Davis
Executive Assistant Cheryl Dougherty
OFFICE OF THE CLERK FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT NORFOLK CIRCUIT COURT 100 Saint Paul’s Boulevard Norfolk, Virginia 23510 (757) 664-4580
Licenses, Permits and Finance Joseph M. Rubino Wills, Estates and Deeds Anthony Fuller
To: The Honorable City Council Members and City Manager From: George Schaefer, Clerk of Circuit Court CC:
Budget Director, Circuit Court Chief Judge
Subj: Annual State of the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office Report Date: February 15, 2005 Ladies and Gentlemen; The Circuit Court Clerk’s Office has had a whirlwind year. As you can imagine, with over 900 statutory requirements and 19 staff members short of the Compensation Board’s staffing study, this office stays busy. Understanding that funding is not likely to be appropriated for these positions, and realizing our role in City government, we are making every effort to maximize the use of technology thereby increasing the efficiency of my staff. We are reviewing every process within the Clerk’s Office to streamline operations while maintaining statutory compliance. This is no small task and does not come with an easy fix. We trust the steps we are taking will maintain or increase current service levels to our citizen customers and maximize the revenue generated for both the Commonwealth and the City. Citing a few examples: Previously, a private vendor was allowed to provide copy services to the general public. I requested information from the company on their revenues and a copy of the contract. We were told there was no contract and that revenues were $36,000 to $54,000. Since no contract existed to provide these services, I ended the relationship, installed self service copiers, assigned account codes to over 200 attorneys, title search companies, etc. and staffed a Copy Center to assist the public. This step alone has realized a $100,000.00 increase in revenue. Similarly, we began deducting the actual costs for the copiers (lease, maintenance, paper) from the copy account prior
to sending the funds to the state. This shows an additional $33,600 savings in our line item expense budget per year. Revenue Comparisons 2002-2004 70000
60000
50000
40000
2002 2003 2004
30000
20000
10000
0
I instituted a review of our costs worksheet to ensure that ALL monies due the locality and Commonwealth are aggressively applied to the appropriate accounts and accurately recorded. 2002 and 2003 were relatively similar in receipts; however, 2004 shows a dramatic increase in most areas. Our efforts resulted in a net increase of approximately $800,000.00 to the city treasury.
Recordation Fees and Grantors Tax 2,000,000 1,800,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000
2002
1,000,000
2003
800,000
2004
600,000 400,000 200,000 0 RECORD FEES
GRANTOR TAX
2003 saw a cutback in the hours of operation for the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office with no reduction in expenses. Beginning with my term, I changed the hours my office is open to the public making the Clerk’s Office accessible 8 hours per day from 8:45 am to 4:45 pm.
Previously, all documents were stored in paper format throughout the courthouse and in a remote storage location. All documents were retrieved from the remote storage location and placed on site, reducing our monthly expenditures for off-site storage. Furthermore, I have directed my staff to begin digitizing files immediately and creating one microfilm copy (for the Library of Virginia) and one CD for the Courts use. We have negotiated and received, from the Supreme Court of Virginia, a new document file server to allow electronic storage of documents for easier and faster access. This procedure could result in a net savings of roughly $2 Million in construction costs due to reduced space requirements for file storage in the new courthouse. I have implemented Remote Online Access to Circuit Court Records at zero cost. We currently have records dating back to 1993 for Judgments, Marriage Licenses, Concealed Weapons Permits, etc. Our Land Records currently date back to 1989 with more records being added daily. We continue to work on ways to utilize technology to improve the filing of Land Records. In partnership with the Supreme Court of Virginia we hope to soon provide e-filing services for some of the documents associated with our court records. Along these lines, we are procuring digital signature capability to allow secure filing of legal documents. This will allow us to move toward our goal of a paperless courthouse. We applied and were granted status as a Passport Acceptance Facility by the United States Department of State. We offer passport services, to include passport photos, 8 hours per day, every day we are open for business. We began this service in September 2004 and have processed 59 passport applications during the last quarter of 2004. We expect this number to increase as the City moves toward additional travel and tourist opportunities. Overall the cash flow through this office for 2004 was in excess of $60 Million. This is a large sum of money for an office with no true security. Upon taking office on January 1, 2004, I requested a security assessment of the Clerk’s Office from Sheriff McCabe, as he is responsible for courthouse security. The security assessment revealed many flaws. We have corrected those areas within our ability, (i.e. re-keyed locks, installed magnetic access control system tied to the Central Plant, locked doors, etc.) Facilities maintenance staff developed plans to correct the security issues, but in light of the planned new courthouse, extensive renovations to the existing courthouse may not be appropriate. In lieu of that, I requested a uniformed Deputy Sheriff be stationed inside my office. Unfortunately, Sheriff McCabe informed me he does not have sufficient staff now and cannot afford to reassign a deputy from current duties. Thus, I will be requesting funds be made available in the upcoming budget to allow the Sheriff to staff this position for my office. Thanks to the partnership this office has with Council members and the City, I was able to offer increased salaries allowing me to recruit and retain an exceptional staff. Holding my staff accountable to higher standards afforded by higher pay has paid great dividends. I demand 90% effort – 100% of the time from my staff, enforcing this with both incentives and a tiered discipline system. Our “numbers” continue to improve and I trust that our relationship with municipal leadership and our citizens will continue to grow stronger.
Please find attached statistics from 2004. I have included, as a part of this package, graphs that we employ to determine the ebb and flow of the activities at the courthouse. This gives us the ability to manage our staff efficiently and foresee problem areas. Thank you for your time and I look forward to a true partnership between the Circuit Court and the City we serve.
Very truly yours;
George E. Schaefer Clerk of Circuit Court
Passports 19
20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
17 13 10
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
September
4323
August
4142
4568
May
4403
April
3684
February
4408
January
4255
3150
4000
3175
5000
4842
5138
6000
4818
2004 Land Records
3000 2000 1000 0 March
June
July
October
November
December
282
July
August
September
182
160
200
193
199
207
250
277
266
268
300
286
350
292
327
Will Documents Executed
150 100 50 0 January
February
March
April
May
June
October
November
December
2004 - DD214 & Ordinations
22
25
16
20
15 DD214 ORDINATION
4 3
4 3
4
4 1
2
3
3 2
3
3
3
4
5
5
5
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
September
October
November
1045
1111
1097
1117
1398
1370
1279
1157
1000
1151
1200
1009
1400
1121
1600
1343
2004 Judgements
800 600 400 200 0 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
December
2004 Marriage Licenses
202
244
August
255
July
265
May
268
April
296
March
295
February
298
227
200
185
250
225
300
291
350
150 100 50 0 January
June
September
October
November
December
$200,000.00
$150,000.00
$100,000.00
$50,000.00
$0.00 January February April May June July August
$300,000.00
September
2004 Clerk's Fees
October November
$324,594.65
$247,274.03
$350,000.00
$239,010.55
De
No
tem
ce
ve
ly
r
mb
mb
er
er
er
be
ust
Oc tob
Se p
Au g
Ju
ne
y
128
133
69 72 52 45
54 49
73 116
122 91 60 165
66
110 108
113 84 70 110
62
119 114
53 90
109 110
71 104 80 134
CONCEALED WEAPONS PERMITS
$160,205.56
$183,979.80
$193,669.27
Ju
Ma
121 92 105 74
143 105 94 87
128 118 105 159
586
NOTARIES
$183,426.79
$186,342.04
March $188,304.93
l
rc h
Ap ri
Ma
ar y
70 34
108
200
$175,808.38
$162,409.41
$250,000.00 br u
ar y
100
Fe
nu
600
$167,623.40
Ja
TRADE NAMES/MIS UCC RECORDING
700
500
400
300
0
December
$5,379,346.32
$6,000,000.00
2004 Receipt Totals
$2,446,951.08
$1,925,172.24
$2,317,990.02
$1,716,144.12
$1,838,658.48
February
$2,085,932.96
January
$1,648,417.20
$2,000,000.00
$1,372,572.25
$3,000,000.00
$1,388,453.95
$4,000,000.00
$1,907,802.71
$2,890,141.88
$5,000,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$0.00 March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2004 Total Criminal Cases Commenced/Concluded 1415
1600
761
932 788
842
971
1002 728
800
745
859
890
942
891
913
942
1026 888
864
933
868
870
814
1000
889
1200
952
1400
600 400 200 0 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2004 Civil Suits Filed
135 September
168
August
197
July
174
198
June
180
197
234
245
180
200
197
250
220
300
150 100 50 0 January
February
March
April
May
October
November
December
2004 Divorces Filed
239
300
163
157
171
178
179
203
November
December
142
150
173
200
191
219
209
250
100
50
0 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October