The Second Judicial Court Chief Justice has reported a “neglect of duty” complaint to the Florida Supreme Court.
The Honorable Francis J. Allman accuses the Leon County Clerk’s Office of a pattern of excessive delays, filing errors, and docketing errors. He’s asking the Florida Supreme Court’s chief justice to take any action deemed necessary Read on to find out how Allman says the issue has affected the pursuit of justice.
In a letter dated June 27th, Judge Francis J. Allman reported “Neglect of Duty” concerns regarding the Leon County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s Office. He asked Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muiz to review a letter he wrote to the Clerk’s Office and take any action deemed necessary. Allman said the issues “are serious, persistent, and are materially affecting the prompt and efficient administration of justice in the circuit.”
The attached letter was written to the Honorable Gwen Marshall at the Leon County Courthouse. In it, Allman said he’d received complaints from a wide range of stakeholders, from public defenders to private attorneys, investigators to the media, and even other judges.
Allman pointed out in that letter, he’d previously met with Marshall in March to discuss the need for improvement within the Leon County Clerk’s Office, but he says no substantial improvement has been made.
“In looking at the complaints, I see a pattern of excessive delays and ongoing filing and docketing errors resulting in inaccurate court records, with the potential to cause significant due process and/or safety issues,” Allman wrote.
He pointed to one clerk’s error that he said resulted in a woman being arrested and held in custody for several hours without judicial authorization.
In another case from February, a deputy clerk failed to enter a no-bond warrant. That led to the defendant being released a month later on a $2,500 bond.
In yet another case, a sexual predator was scheduled for release due to the Clerk of Court’s delays entering a judge’s order.
Other examples were also given, including incorrect docketing of competency evaluation orders, failure to note transport orders, delays in processing release orders, and delays in processing of probation orders.
Allman also noted one instance of failure to seal court filings in a high-profile case, resulting in sensitive information being made public. Later, unredacted documents from the same case were again made publicly accessible.
And the Clerk of Court’s staff is also accused of improperly restricting some information that should be public, affecting both defendants and media outlets.
We reached out to Marshall regarding Chief Allmans letter to the Supreme Court. Her statement reads,
While we maintain the utmost respect for Chief Judge Allman, we must respectfully dissent from his characterization of the facts. A comprehensive and substantiated response will be submitted directly to the Florida Supreme Court for its consideration. The Clerks Office remains committed to fulfilling our duties to the public.
According to Marshall’s online biography, she was elected to her current position in November 2016. It says she is both the first woman and first African American to be elected to serve in that office. Prior to her election, she worked at the Florida Association of Clerk Courts and Comptrollers for 17 years. It notes that her operating perspective is “Performance, not Promises.”
READ THE FULL LETTER TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT BELOW:
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