Virginia Beach General District Court asks council for $200,000 in personnel and scanning support

Chief Judge Sandra Minego told City Council the Virginia Beach General District Court is asking the city for additional operating support to keep staff in place and handle a surge in paperwork tied to new camera enforcement. "We are asking for additional funds for that stipend," Minego said, identifying a $54,000 annual request tied to employee stipends and a further $142,584 request to fund five part-time positions.

Minego said the court has the largest number of civil filings in the state and that civil matters — from car-accident cases to landlord-tenant disputes and garnishments — are "absolutely paper intensive, labor intensive filings" that require more staffing and scanning capacity. She added the court processes civil commitment paperwork and emergency protective orders that must be scanned, tagged as confidential and retained.

The judge told council new automated enforcement programs will add volume the court must process: the HOT lanes projection is about 13,200 violations per year, and school-zone cameras (10 zones) are expected to generate roughly 3,700 violations annually. "All of those things have to be processed," she said.

City staff confirmed the requests appear in the departmental book as "requested but not funded." Council members and staff discussed potential revenue offsets tied to e-summons fee language in the city code and said finance staff will examine earmarking options.

The court requested a combined package roughly equal to $200,000 to cover the stipend increase and the five part-time hires. Minego also raised building and ADA concerns for the 1989 courthouse and said she expects to return with additional capital requests in coming years.

Council members thanked Minego for the briefing and asked staff to explore funding sources and the programmatic impacts on the court if the city does not add the requested operating dollars.