New Clerk Academy Criminal Court & Jury

1. New Clerk AcademyCriminal Court & Jury State Reporting Requirements February 27, 2013 Gainesville, FL

2. State Reporting Requirements Linda Doggett, Lee County Clerk Alex Alford, Walton County Clerk

3. State Reporting Requirements Many State reports are required but today, we will focus on two… • Assessments & Collections Annual Report • Also known as Mandatory & Discretionary • Collections Rate Quarterly Report • One of the Performance Measures reports

4. Assessments & Collections • AKA – Mandatory Discretionary • Mandated by FS 28.246 • Report is produced annually, for the timeframe of October 1(year 1) to September 30 (year 2) • Report is due to the FCCC by the 18th day of October; the FCCC compiles all the data for an annual report to the legislature (and CCOC) which is due by December 1st • Prior year reports (i.e. 2011-2012) are available on the FCCC website

5. Assessments & Collections • Report provides information on : • what fines/costs/fees are ordered by the court, • what mandatorily could have been ordered by the court (statute driven), and • what amounts were waived / discharged.

6. Assessments & Collections • Senate Bill 1964 (July 2012) identified changes to the report for the current reporting year (Oct 2012 – Sep 2013) • Legislature is expecting the Clerks to report consistently and accurately on this information

7. Assessments & Collections Some examples of past high-level issues include: • Not capturing information in the CMS or Finance Systems for certain reported fields (i.e. civil judgment/liens) • Not reporting all “possible” assessments for mandatory costs • Multiple interpretations of the report guidelines influenced data comparisons. For example, reporting of converted or reduced assessments. • Information not available (in the courtroom) to determine if a reduced fine is permitted by law. For example, drug cases where defendant assists with the conviction of another.  • Incorrect classification and recording of data into local case maintenance systems. • Judicial actions may differ even in counties within the same circuit, affecting data comparison. 

8. Assessments & Collections • Karen Rushing established a project workgroup to focus on this initiative; goal was to provide updated reporting templates and clearly defined guidelines for report content • Alex Nicholas is the project leader (FCCC) • Participating counties included Alachua, Hillsborough, Marion, Miami-Dade, Sarasota, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Putnam plus members from OSCA and CCOC • Final Drafts of the project materials are available from the FCCC; the Supreme Court has still not approved of the reporting form template or the mandatory fines/costs (minimums by statute guide)

9. Assessments & Collections • The workgroup developed the format of the Report Guidelines to provide guidance for some of these issues.  • However, the challenge is for individual Clerk offices to analyze their workflow, classification and recoding processes in order to report correct data.

10. Assessments & Collections • New report format may impact your CMS/Finance Reporting system(s) • Report in new format, using new guidelines must be ready by October 2013 • Data being collected for the report has already started; you may need to have your teams review how you are capturing information in your systems and if you are able to meet the new report guidelines

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15. Assessments & Collections • Challenges to accurate reporting are primarily related to courtroom processes, for example: • announcing the fines as mandatory, • announcing the offense degree (1st , 2nd on DUI and drugs) and • announcing what count should be assessed the fine(s) where there are multiples on the case. 

16. Assessments & Collections

17. Assessments & Collections Chart 3: Mandatory Fine Example *Note: When specific statutory authority exists a mandatory fine may be reduced. For example, a Drug Trafficking assessment may be reduced, per negotiated agreement, as stated in s. 893.135(4), F.S. The Clerk would have to be informed of this reduction in order to record the assessment correctly

18. Assessments & Collections Final Draft Report Guidelines 2013 Annual Assessments and Collections Report Document Revision Schedule Contact Information: For questions, issues, discrepancies, or recommendations about this document please contact The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers: Contact person: Alex Nicholas Email: anicholas@flclerks.com Phone 850-921-0808

19. Assessments & Collections • Weblinkto Project Documents: http://www.flclerks.com/Intranet/Clerk_Info/a_c_reports.html

20. Collections Report • Mandated by FS 28.35(2)(d) • The collection rate is the total of all collections related to the assessment control group divided by the actual assessments of the reporting period. Calculation Logic Collection Rate = Total Amount Collected divided by the Total Amount Assessed (+) or (–) Adjustments to Assessments • Report is produced quarterly. • There is a separate worksheet for each court type. E.g. Criminal circuit, criminal county, criminal juvenile delinquency (juveniles) criminal traffic (UTC), civil circuit, civil county, civil traffic (UTC), civil probate, civil family, and civil juvenile dependency.

21. Collections Report • Performance Measure Standards • Circuit Criminal 9% • County Criminal 40% • Juvenile Delinquency 9% • Criminal Traffic 40% • Circuit Civil 90% • County Civil 90% • Civil Traffic 90% • Probate 90% • Family 75%

22. Collections Report • Assessment control group (CGE): The total of all fines, fees, services charges, and other monetary penalties assessed during the given reporting period, i.e., CG 7/1/11 through 9/30/11, etc. • Report Period Ending (RPE): Collections for each control group will be reported at the end of one year, i.e., the CG 7/1/11 RPE is 9/30/12. • Reports due to Florida CCOC: Reports will be due quarterly, 20 days after each assessment control group has met the one year reporting period. • 10/20 • 01/20 • 04/20 • 07/20

23. Example of case type is Civil Traffic (TR)

24. Collections Report • Explanation for (downward) Variances in Total Amount Assessed: Multiple Elections allowed by Florida Statute • Elect a hearing – extends time to pay: case may be dismissed without penalty or found guilty of a lessor offense. New law allows defendants up to 180 days to elect a hearing.(Effective 01/01/2013, FS 318.15) • Show proof of compliance for vehicle defect citations (pays smaller fine than original charge) • Show proof was valid at time of traffic violation; DL, Tag, Insurance (results in $10.00 dismissal fee)

25. Collections Report • Explanation for (upward) Variances in Total Amount Assessed: • Assessed statutory D6 late fee + $23.00 • Assessed failure to attend defensive driving school reversal fee +$18.00 • Court Ordered Serious Bodily or Fatality mandatory fines in addition to original fine + $500/$1000 • .

26. Collections Report • Effective ways we Increased Civil Traffic Collections: • Timely D6 unpaid traffic infractions – (31 days). • Timely transmit unpaid citations to your collection agency- (90 days after D6 date). • Eliminated automatic 60 day extension policy (2004). • Timely report unpaid payment plans to collection agency.

27. Collections Report • Weblink to Collection Business Rules: • http://www.flccoc.org/Collections/Best%20Practices/COLLECTIONS_Business_Rules_070809.pdf