Tracy Perry, Citrus County clerk of court, told the delegation that statewide clerks face a $75 million funding shortfall that is affecting court operations and staffing locally. "We are basically running a 2025 business on 2008 pricing," Perry said, arguing that clerks' operational funding has lagged other justice agencies.

Perry said the shortfall is statewide: clerks received a roughly 6.4% funding increase since 2015 while other justice agencies have seen an average increase of more than 50%. She told the meeting county courts are absorbing recurring software and services costs by drawing down the modernization trust fund, a reserve intended for intermittent technology upgrades. Jury funding shortfalls forced Citrus to use operations money to cover juror costs: the clerk reported the county was about $30,000 short for FY24 jury costs alone.

Perry said the statewide appropriation process needs to address mandated workloads that have not been funded at the clerk level. She asked Representative Groh and the delegation to support clerks in Tallahassee, citing the need for funding parity and legislative fixes to ensure clerks can serve rising caseloads and new judges without eroding modernization reserves and staff capacity.

Representative Groh responded that he would work with the clerk on particular bills that may require cosponsorship and help elevate the funding issue in the delegation's legislative package.