Madison County agrees to save the jobs of eight employees in circuit clerk's office
Keith Clines, The Huntsville Times
View full size Madison County Circuit Clerk Jane Smith, shown here in a file photo, asked the commission to provide $249,665 next year from a local court fee to keep the state-paid employees on the job. (The Huntsville Times/File photo)
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The Madison County Commission on Friday agreed to save the jobs of eight employees facing layoffs in the Madison County Circuit Clerk's office because of the state's financial strain.
Circuit Clerk Jane Smith asked the commission to provide $249,665 next year from a local court fee to keep the state-paid employees on the job.
The commission voted to give the money to the state Administrative Office of Courts as a loan to be repaid if the state court system receives a $10 million supplemental appropriation.
Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie said the commission wanted to help the clerk's office, but didn't want to set a precedent that could make state officials less inclined to help the courts here if they know the county will pick up the slack.
The state's cash-strapped court system has ordered that a third of the employees in circuit clerk offices across Alabama be laid off. That would have reduced the employees in the Madison County office from 47 to 31. But, the county's action will leave 39 employees.
"This layoff would be devastating to our court system," Smith told the commissioners before their vote.
The money for the eight employees is from the Preservation of Justice Fund, a court fee established for Madison County in 2004 to help the courts avoid layoffs at the time.
Money left in the account at the end of the year goes into the county's general fund. The court fee generated about $1.2 million last year. About $800,000 paid for bailiffs, law clerks and a new courtroom for an extra judge. About $400,000 went to the county's general fund. The state will assume the costs of the new circuit court judge next year.
The county spent about $250,000 this year for Circuit Court Judge Alan Mann's court, County Attorney Julian Butler said. That's about the same amount needed to pay the salaries of the eight employees in Smith's office next year when the state pays for Mann's court, he said.
Smith said the state has ordered that the number of weeks for civil jury trials be cut in half and the number of weeks for criminal jury trials be cut by a third. The result of layoffs in Shelby County has been the paperwork in divorce cases is not touched for four weeks, said Smith, and the processing of criminal cases is two weeks behind.
Commissioner Dale Strong said that the jail population would "go through the roof" if circuit judges go to a four-day work week.
"If we don't pay for it on the front end, we get tattooed on the back end," Strong said.