Circuit court clerk asks board to back state fix to restore full excess‑fee returns and funds land‑records upgrade

Circuit Court Clerk Jackie Smith updated the Board of County Supervisors on April 1 about office operations and asked the board to support a legislative effort to restore the full two‑thirds return of “excess fees” to localities and to fund county match for a new Land Records Management System (LRMS).

Clerk’s requests. Smith asked the board to endorse the Clerk’s Association proposal to change the state budget practice that has for years redirected a larger share of excess clerk fees to the commonwealth. Under current practice, governors’ budget amendments have effectively reduced the local return; Smith and the association want the full two‑thirds return spelled in statute and protected from budget amendments. She asked the county to take a lead role with Virginia Beach to press the change in the next General Assembly session.

LRMS and local costs. Smith also described a proposed county LRMS that would modernize deed and recordation processing and add a property‑alert service that notifies owners of new filings. The clerk said the Commonwealth has committed $70,000 in grant funding annually toward implementation, conditional on a local financial commitment. She asked the board to include the county share in coming budgets; the clerk said the system will improve deed‑fraud detection and public access.

Context and financials. School and county supervisors asked for more precise reserve figures and the clerk’s CFO said recordation revenues are cyclical; FY2025 recordation receipts are below some prior years due to market cycles. Smith said losses relative to a 5‑year peak reduce excess fee distributions and that recovering the statutory two‑thirds would help localities fund court‑related services and projects.

Board follow‑up. Supervisors thanked Smith for the briefing and asked staff to return with detail on county reserves, the share for the two cities that share the clerk, and program costs for LRMS implementation and maintenance. Several supervisors agreed to add the excess‑fee restoration to the county’s legislative priorities and to consider the LRMS funding request in the county budget process.

Ending. The clerk’s presentation highlighted the mix of operational modernization needs (LRMS, property alerts, kiosk services) and a statutory funding issue (excess fee returns) that will require both county budget decisions and a coordinated legislative strategy at the state level.