District clerk requests overtime, juror costs and stipends from dedicated records fund to finish digitization

Kerr County's district clerk presented budget requests tied to jury costs, occasional overtime for long jury trials, and a proposed stipend paid from the district clerk's dedicated records-preservation fund to accelerate digitization.

The district clerk explained the office processes passports and a high caseload and said juries and lengthy trials require staff to work long hours: "we are here starting at 07:30 in the morning, and sometimes we don't leave till 10,11 o'clock at night when we have jury trials," she said. The clerk proposed an overtime or stipend approach and noted staff shortages have driven departures.

Nut graf: The clerk asked the court to approve modest operational increases, including a $3,000 one-time stipend per staff member (to be paid from Fund 33, the district clerk's dedicated records-preservation fund) to have staff upload archived records instead of paying an outside provider; the clerk emphasized the fund is derived from document fees and not general tax revenues.

The clerk said Fund 33 is restricted to district-clerk records preservation and that the stipend would be temporary; she also highlighted that passport services and other revenue-producing lines help support operations. The court asked clarifying questions about how the fund is restricted and whether stipends should be paid from dedicated fees; the clerk confirmed the funds are restricted to records preservation and would not use general-tax revenues.

Ending: The court accepted the explanation; no vote occurred at the workshop. The clerk will include the stipend request and jury-related operating costs in the proposed budget paperwork for formal consideration.