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Clerk of Court asks Williamsburg County Council to raise juror pay, expand bereavement leave and fund records digitization
Summary
Sharon Staggers, the county clerk of court, asked the council to consider a county shred day, increase juror pay from $15 to $25 per day, extend paid bereavement leave and fund digitization and relocation of fragile historical records; she cited a 2021 vendor quote of about $264,000 for part of the work.
Sharon Staggers, Williamsburg County's clerk of court, urged the council to take several administrative steps to protect records and support county employees.
Staggers asked the council to organize a countywide shred day so offices with large volumes of sensitive documents can safely dispose of material that overwhelms small office shredders. "My office has a lot of sensitive documents that we cannot just put in the trash," she said, adding that bulk shredding would preserve security and prevent damage to office equipment.
She also requested raising juror pay from $15 per day to $25 per day to encourage participation, saying the last increase was in 2013 after a 37-year interval. "I'm asking for you to increase the juror pay from $15 per day to $25 per day," Staggers said, citing low turnout from large juror pools as a concern.
On employee supports, Staggers asked the county to consider extending paid bereavement leave beyond the current three paid days and to provide grief counseling services for employees who suffer major losses.
Staggers pressed for steps to preserve and modernize county records, noting many archives remain in an old bank building and are fragile. She said a 2021 quote from vendor Cox Systems for digitizing the main records exceeded $264,000 and that costs have risen since then. "That quote was over... $264,000," she said, urging council consideration and funding as the county reviews its budget.
Council members asked whether any of these requests were included in Staggers' budget submission. Staggers said she did not itemize these items separately but believes a juror-pay increase could be accommodated within the juror budget and that finance meetings are upcoming.
No formal funding decisions were made at the meeting; the supervisor said he would meet with the finance department and try to report back at the next council meeting.
