Opinion ID: 1387744
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: McDowell County Circuit Clerk

Text: The Clerk of the Circuit Court of McDowell County (the circuit clerk) requested $90,203 for compensation for the employees of his office for the fiscal year 1988-89, ending June 30, 1989. [1] The County Commission of McDowell County (the county commission) appropriated $70,722.00 for compensation for the employees of the circuit clerk's office for the 1988-89 fiscal year. This amount was fifteen percent less than the amount ($83,203.00) appropriated for such compensation for the 1987-88 fiscal year and was about thirty-two percent less than the amount ($104,003.00) appropriated for such compensation for the 1986-87 fiscal year. For the fiscal year 1988-89, the county commission reduced the budget appropriations for all elected county officials, other than the county commission, by about fifteen percent of the 1987-88 amounts. The county commission reduced its own budget for staff compensation for 1988-89 by less than one-half of one percent of the 1987-88 amount. These budget reductions were made in the context of substantial reductions in available funds caused by a dwindling tax base in the county over the past several years. [2] The county commission did not consult with the circuit clerk prior to fixing the budget in order to ascertain the workload and operating needs of the circuit clerk's office. The number of case filings for the first six months of the calendar year 1988 was greater than the filings for the first six months of calendar years 1986 and 1987. The circuit clerk's staff consists of six full-time and no part-time employees. The county commission appropriated funds for the 1988-89 fiscal year for such items as (1) contingent liabilities based upon pending lawsuits ($87,000.00) [3] and (2) solid waste disposal, originally a nonbudget item ($6,000.00).