Examiner.com - June 10, 12:53 PM
The Florida legislature cut $46 Million from court clerks statewide, and the affects in South Florida are staggering. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties will lay off a combined 259 employees, out of a total 3,250 current employees. This will mean longer lines to file or obtain documents, make payments, and will likely affect courtroom efficiency.
Until a recent law making court clerks’ budgets part of the overall state budget, each county’s clerk managed their own budget with little or no state oversight. Once the law went into effect, the clerks’ offices were immediately faced with the overall state budget crisis, resulting in massive personnel cuts and fee hikes.
In the Miami-Dade court clerk’s office, which currently has approximately 1,500 employees, Court Clerk Harvy Ruvin has announced that 145 employees will be laid off and 83 vacant positions will be eliminated. In Broward County, of the 950 employees currently employed, Clerk Howard Forman will lay off 48, eliminate 81 vacant positions and institute a mandatory 1 day per month furlough. Palm Beach County Clerk Sharon Bock, who employs 800 people, will lay off 66 employees.
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South Florida court clerks cuts may affect the administration of justice
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Saturday, June 13, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Loveland man gets life term for killing man serving divorce papers
By Monte Whaley - The Denver Post - 06/08/2009
James Whitler is charged with killing a process server who came to serve him with divorce papers May 28, 2008
FORT COLLINS — A man who brutally beat a process server to death in May 2008 and then tried to kill his two young children was sentenced to life in prison today without possibility of parole after being called heartless and a monster by the victim's friends and family.
James Whitler also was sentenced to two consecutive 24-year-sentences for the attempted murder of his son, 11, and daughter, 13.
Larimer District Judge Daniel Kaup told Whitler he could have merely accepted the divorce papers from Stephen Allen on May 28, 200,8 and moved on with his life. But instead, Whitler beat Allen to death with a baseball bat and then tried to stab his daughter and strangle both children unconscious.
"This didn't have to end this way," Kaup told Whitler before passing sentence.
Read the rest of the story:
Loveland man gets life term for killing man serving divorce papers
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James Whitler is charged with killing a process server who came to serve him with divorce papers May 28, 2008
FORT COLLINS — A man who brutally beat a process server to death in May 2008 and then tried to kill his two young children was sentenced to life in prison today without possibility of parole after being called heartless and a monster by the victim's friends and family.
James Whitler also was sentenced to two consecutive 24-year-sentences for the attempted murder of his son, 11, and daughter, 13.
Larimer District Judge Daniel Kaup told Whitler he could have merely accepted the divorce papers from Stephen Allen on May 28, 200,8 and moved on with his life. But instead, Whitler beat Allen to death with a baseball bat and then tried to stab his daughter and strangle both children unconscious.
"This didn't have to end this way," Kaup told Whitler before passing sentence.
Read the rest of the story:
Loveland man gets life term for killing man serving divorce papers
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Friday, June 5, 2009
Legislator drafts bill to govern constables
The push for uniform laws follows scandals alleging misconduct by elected officials.
By Mark Scolforo - philly.com - Associated Press
HARRISBURG - A state lawmaker is pushing for legislation he describes as a first step toward addressing the training, equipment, and supervisory shortcomings in the state's troubled constable system.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Thomas Caltagirone (D., Berks) recently introduced a bill that would assemble in one place the myriad state laws that govern constables. The 56-page bill also would repeal laws with archaic references related to constables, including one dating to 1799.
Once that codification is accomplished, Caltagirone said, he will address the qualifications for office and guidelines for the job.
"I am committed to trying to upgrade the professionalism of the constables and make it a more meaningful law enforcement body and a judicial process-server body," he said yesterday. "This is the first, first step. I don't think there's going to be much controversy around this piece of legislation as much as what may follow. And I don't know what will follow."
The state's 1,200 constables serve warrants, transport prisoners, and perform other jobs for district courts throughout the state. Most are independently elected, though some are appointed to fill vacancies or as deputy constables in busy areas.
Constables operate on a pay-for-service basis for the courts, and as such have limited supervision and accountability.
Read the rest of the story:
Legislator drafts bill to govern constables
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By Mark Scolforo - philly.com - Associated Press
HARRISBURG - A state lawmaker is pushing for legislation he describes as a first step toward addressing the training, equipment, and supervisory shortcomings in the state's troubled constable system.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Thomas Caltagirone (D., Berks) recently introduced a bill that would assemble in one place the myriad state laws that govern constables. The 56-page bill also would repeal laws with archaic references related to constables, including one dating to 1799.
Once that codification is accomplished, Caltagirone said, he will address the qualifications for office and guidelines for the job.
"I am committed to trying to upgrade the professionalism of the constables and make it a more meaningful law enforcement body and a judicial process-server body," he said yesterday. "This is the first, first step. I don't think there's going to be much controversy around this piece of legislation as much as what may follow. And I don't know what will follow."
The state's 1,200 constables serve warrants, transport prisoners, and perform other jobs for district courts throughout the state. Most are independently elected, though some are appointed to fill vacancies or as deputy constables in busy areas.
Constables operate on a pay-for-service basis for the courts, and as such have limited supervision and accountability.
Read the rest of the story:
Legislator drafts bill to govern constables
---------------------------------
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Each week, sharks feed on county's foreclosed homes
By Noah Haglund - Herald Writer - Snohomish County, WA
EVERETT -- A feeding frenzy. That's what some seasoned onlookers call the weekly foreclosure auctions in front of the Snohomish County Courthouse.
The spectacle takes over the open space around a cluster of war memorials every Friday morning.
This week, it started with 30 or more people, a half-dozen of them "criers" who read legal descriptions of homes and land that have gone into foreclosure. A few investors circled the crowd, sniffing out profitable morsels to gobble up.
"These are the great whites; they're watching this stuff," said Tim Hiegel, a broker who set up his portable office on the periphery, pointing out regulars among the crowd.
Read the rest of the story:
Each week, sharks feed on county's foreclosed homes
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EVERETT -- A feeding frenzy. That's what some seasoned onlookers call the weekly foreclosure auctions in front of the Snohomish County Courthouse.
The spectacle takes over the open space around a cluster of war memorials every Friday morning.
This week, it started with 30 or more people, a half-dozen of them "criers" who read legal descriptions of homes and land that have gone into foreclosure. A few investors circled the crowd, sniffing out profitable morsels to gobble up.
"These are the great whites; they're watching this stuff," said Tim Hiegel, a broker who set up his portable office on the periphery, pointing out regulars among the crowd.
Read the rest of the story:
Each week, sharks feed on county's foreclosed homes
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Marshals make millions serving papers
Sunday, 31 May 2009 - WTNH.com
Hartford (AP) - A Connecticut marshal earned more than $1 million last year delivering court papers.
The Hartford Court reports that John Fiorillo, the top-earning marshal in the state, was paid more than $3 million by law firms in 2008, but spent about two-thirds of that on employee and office expenses. That still left him with an income of $1,119,706. The Courant says most of Fiorillo's business came from two foreclosure firms.
Fiorillo has refused to comment on his business. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says his office is investigating the marshal system, and why there is such a large concentration of business among just a few process-servers.
Read the original story here:
Marshals make millions serving papers
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Hartford (AP) - A Connecticut marshal earned more than $1 million last year delivering court papers.
The Hartford Court reports that John Fiorillo, the top-earning marshal in the state, was paid more than $3 million by law firms in 2008, but spent about two-thirds of that on employee and office expenses. That still left him with an income of $1,119,706. The Courant says most of Fiorillo's business came from two foreclosure firms.
Fiorillo has refused to comment on his business. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says his office is investigating the marshal system, and why there is such a large concentration of business among just a few process-servers.
Read the original story here:
Marshals make millions serving papers
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