This is a request for City Council to authorize the continued expenditure of Peoria Court Enhancement Funds for two part-time contract employees and to approve a budget transfer to provide appropriation for these expenditures.

The Court is requesting Council to authorize the continued use of the Peoria Municipal Court Enhancement Funds in the amount of $25,000  for contract employee services and approval of two contract part-time Judicial Assistant positions, each position for 20 hours weekly for 6 months to address staffing shortfalls from increased mandates for time standards for case processing, enforcement of court orders, monetary collections, records request and records retention.

In 2015, two part-time contract positions for 20 hours weekly were funded by Peoria Court Enhancement Funds for 1 year and have completed purging of the backlog of closed cases to 2006 to meet the records retention and case processing standards.

A:   Council authorize the use of the Peoria Court Enhancement Funds for two part-time contract positions, each for 20 hours weekly for 6 months for court to include collection calls, collection notices, processing payments, defaults, suspensions, warrants and records requests.  Each year the court has continuous purging requirements for closed criminal misdemeanor, criminal traffic, civil traffic, parking, city code and protective order cases that must be reviewed individually when purging to meet the mandates as required and case processing standards.

This transfer is for expenditure authority only; fund reserves are available to support this request.

The court is requesting the approval of these positions to address staffing shortfalls from increased mandates for time standards for case processing, enforcement of court orders and monetary collections, records request and records retention and the purging of files to meet the State’s Retention schedule.  These positions will assist with collection activity which includes collection calls, collection notices, processing payments, defaults, suspensions, warrants and records requests.  Each year the court has continuous purging requirements for closed criminal misdemeanor, criminal traffic, civil traffic, parking, city code and protective order cases that must be reviewed individually when purging.  Once cases are identified, this manual process ensures that the cases meet the retention requirements. Information is manually entered into the automated court system by entering specific docket entries for each case.  With current staffing levels, the court is unable to purge files in addition to regular duties for case processing.  It is more efficient to have the continuation of trained staff for these positions.