Clerk of Circuit Court officials presented the department's 2026 recommended budget and described operations that support the circuit courts and specialty court programs.

The presentation said total expenditures for Combined Court Related Operations are $33,145,087, total revenues $13,662,131 and a tax levy of $19,482,956, increases from 2025. Officials said a projected $1.5 million reduction in levy reliance in 2026 results from changes in state funding for the office.

Why it matters: the Clerk of Circuit Court is an elected constitutional officer whose office administers court services and maintains records for thousands of cases each year; changes in state funding and county levy affect how the office staffs courthouses and supports specialty courts and public-facing services.

Deputy Chief Deputy Clerk Mary Ferwerda and Wesley McKenzie, senior financial manager for the Clerk of Courts, gave the presentation and highlighted that the office manages nearly 300 employees, about 150,000 cases annually and a combined budget in the low- to mid-30 millions band. They noted 2025 successes including reaching about 89% staffing, restarting an AmeriCorps courthouse navigator program and plans for an evidence-room remodel in 2026.

Members of the Finance Committee raised a discrepancy between the numbers on the Clerks slides and figures in the countyrecommended operating budget. Supervisor Balinski asked why the department slide totals differed from the figures on page 199 of the recommended operating budget. Joe Lamers, Director of the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, explained that the departments slides reflected the requested budget while the county executives recommended budget included technical adjustments made in the recommended phase, such as state court support funding recognition and cross-charge or salary-technical items.

Supervisor Shaquana Taylor asked for reconciled documentation to explain the technical changes and requested the corrected figures be emailed to the committee members. Lamers and department staff said they would provide an updated reconciliation of the requested and recommended numbers and confirm position counts (the department reported 297 positions in the budget).

Committee action and next steps: no formal vote occurred. Committee members requested follow-up information reconciling the department slides with the recommended operating budget figures and clarification on position counts and technical adjustments.

Ending: Clerk of Circuit Court staff remained available for follow-up and said they would provide written reconciliation; the committee did not take a vote on the presentation.