PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County commissioners now are considering staffing a Clerk III position in District Court 1 that was one of seven vacant unfunded county positions deferred following a Dec. 5 public hearing on the 2024 budget.
Commissioners are considering transferring funds for the Department of Community Development to District Court 1 after Neupert cut back court office hours.
“We still need to schedule a public hearing before any final decision is made to transfer funds from the (Department of Community Development budget to the District Court I budget),” Tom Reyes, Clallam County Deputy Human Resources director, wrote in a Wednesday email.
The public hearing will be conducted in January. The position will be advertised no later than Feb. 26 and filled by April 1, according to a letter from the commissioners to Clallam County District Court I Judge Dave Neupert. The position also will be open to current county employees.
Neupert cut back the hours for District Court 1 because of Clallam County’s “unilateral decision to defund an essential court clerk position,” he said in a recent press release.
Public access windows now are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on all court days, Monday through Friday, at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
The cut in funding, Neupert said, now requires four clerks to do the work of five clerks without any additional compensation.
“That decision requires reduction of the hours the Court is available to the public to complete the Court’s daily business,” he said in the release.
The courtroom remains open until 4:30 p.m. for scheduled hearings and trials.
Mental Health Court and Deferred Prosecution special report calendars remain with their existing schedules, Neupert noted. The reduced hours limit public access to the Court to request protection orders, to pay infractions and fines, inquire about jury service, file papers or ask for help.
Persons who need to file for a protection order between 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. may contact Clallam County Superior Court.
The commissioners’ change of heart about the position was based upon district court’s ability to generate revenue for the county through fines and other legal obligations, a letter from the commissioners to Neupert said.
The position will be funded using $71,000 in personnel savings resulting from new hires in the Department of Community Development being brought in at a lower range and/or step than anticipated, Reyes wrote in his email.
The court position is listed at Level 52 of the county’s labor agreement with the Teamsters Union, which has a pay range of $52,768 to $64,293 annually, divided into nine steps. What step the person is employed at depends upon qualifications.
“These unanticipated savings will allow us to fund the Clerk III position as of April 1, 2024, if so decided after the hearing,” Reyes wrote.
“Once again, I want to emphasize that this option is being explored and must go to a public hearing before the County Commissioners before being finalized,” he continued.
In their letter to Neupert the commissioners stated they would continue evaluating the county’s revenues and expenses in all departments throughout 2024 as they work on the 2025 budget.
The commissioners voted unanimously on Dec. 5 to approve the county’s $54.818 million 2024 budget, including a $13.12 million general fund budget, that indefinitely deferred filling seven open general fund positions, although the court clerk position and a legal assistant position in the prosecuting attorney’s office were to be reviewed in six months.
The five general fund positions to be deferred indefinitely are two in juvenile services, two in health and human services’ environmental services division and one in the county commissioners office. They are vacant and do not require layoffs.
The district court clerk position was the subject of a lively discussion between Neupert and the commissioners at a Nov. 27 work session.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at brian.gawley@peninsuladailynews.com.
