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Washington County to transfer family court services to Clerk of Courts; committee schedules closed-session follow-up
Summary
County staff presented a plan to move family court custody and placement evaluations out of Health and Human Services and under court administration, citing conflict-of-interest concerns and staffing efficiency; the committee asked to revisit personnel-sensitive details in a January closed session.
Washington County Health and Human Services staff told the committee they will move family court custody and placement evaluation services from the county department into the court system, with a planned administrative transition targeted for Jan. 1.
Julie Driscoll, speaking for Health and Human Services, said the change follows a 2024 operational review and an executive initiative to address "real and perceived conflicts of interest" from running the evaluations inside a department that also provides child-protective and youth-justice services. Driscoll said the position’s revenue and authority will transfer to the Clerk of Courts and that supervision of the role will move to the court as well. "As your packet says, we are, on track really to transition those services as of January 1," Coral Klein, Children & Families Division Manager, told the committee.
Klein described a review of six similarly sized counties and said those counties generally house this family court services function outside of human services and within the court system. Committee members and staff said the arrangement is intended to reduce perceived conflicts and improve administrative efficiency.
Supervisor Bossert asked that the item be added to the January agenda with a closed session to discuss personnel and other sensitive matters. Driscoll said the change could not be included in the current budget cycle and would be processed administratively; she said the Clerk of Courts will assess workload and request additional staffing through the normal biennial budget process if needed.
Officials clarified the staffing change currently represents one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) that has been split across two employees; the county expects the Clerk of Courts to determine whether additional staff are required in future budgets. "It’s equivalent again of 1 FTE, and so only 1 FTE will move over to the court’s family court system," Driscoll said.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the transition at this meeting. Members agreed to add the topic to the January agenda and to discuss personnel details in a closed session, per the request by Supervisor Bossert.
Next steps: staff will place the transition on the January agenda and prepare materials for a closed-session review of personnel-sensitive items; the Clerk of Courts will assess workload in the coming biennium and, if necessary, request additional staffing through the budget process.
