Clerk of Courts reports record jury activity, rising revenues and interpreter costs

Katie Shelley, Dunn County clerk of court, briefed supervisors on court operations and finances for 2024. The office recorded roughly a 7% increase in case filings (nearly 12,000 cases) and a 14% increase in revenue collections over 2023.

Shelley said the courts held the highest number of jury trials since 2017 — 16 trials totaling 44 days — and that the office reduced juror questionnaire mailings from over 3,000 to about 1,500 in 2024, lowering over-call rates. At year end the clerk’s office held more than $500,000 in cash bonds for pending cases and collected about $22,000 in bank interest on court funds that returned to county coffers.

Interpreters were a recurring operational cost; Shelley said the county used state-certified interpreters more than 340 times in 15 languages last year, with Spanish and Russian the most frequent. She told the board there is no statutory cap on interpreter rates and that fees can vary widely; Shelley said she has observed charges ranging from $50 to $500 per hour and that higher-cost hearings, including jury trials, can cost several thousand dollars for interpreter services.

Shelley also reported increased collections from tax intercept and state debt collection programs and said judges were reassigning treatment court responsibilities. Supervisors asked whether the county could cap interpreter rates; Shelley said she would defer to corporation counsel but offered to research vendor arrangements and rate agreements for future consideration.