Leon County Clerk of Court Gwen Marshall Knight told lawmakers her office faces a “possible” administrative order that would require it to process all criminal filings within eight hours — a potential move that follows numerous complaints about the office’s functioning.
Her comments came Oct. 27 during a meeting of the county’s legislative delegation at the Capitol. She said her office faces another funding shortfall and that while the state approved increases in fines and fees in 2008 that helped clerk’s offices, there have been “no substantial” increases since.
“This means we’re operating a 2025 business on … 2008 prices,” she said, adding the funding was “unsustainable” for clerk’s offices.
On the administrative order, she said it would require her office to process “all of my criminal filings and documents” within eight hours.
“Meaning that if we have a docket of 300 cases in a day and court ends at 4:55, I would then have to make sure that those filings are processed within eight hours, by 8 o’clock that evening, which requires overtime that is not projected in my regular budget,” Knight said.
Participating in the delegation meeting were state Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, and Reps. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, and Gallop Franklin II and Allison Tant, both D-Tallahassee.
Maya Hendry, attorney for the Clerk’s Office, said the administrative order Knight referenced is a draft and therefore “confidential and exempt” under court rules. Any administrative order would be issued by Chief Judge Frank Allman of the 2nd Judicial Circuit.
Earlier this year, Allman, citing numerous complaints from prosecutors, defense attorneys, private lawyers and other judicial stakeholders, referred her to the Florida Supreme Court for “neglect of duty.”
In a June 27 letter to Knight, Allman outlined a litany of problems at the Clerk’s Office, including “frequent and substantial” docketing delays and errors that could “cause significant due process or safety issues.” He said that while some of the problems had been addressed many were ongoing.
“In the aggregate, they demonstrate a systemic failure to perform core responsibilities of the Clerk’s Office,” Allman wrote. “I am aware that our judges, court staff, and justice partners have worked collaboratively with the Clerk’s Office to address these concerns, yet meaningful and consistent improvement is not occurring.”
Allman forwarded a copy of the letter to Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz, a rare step he said he was required to take under court rules.
Mohammad Jazil, a Tallahassee attorney representing Knight, wrote Muñiz a month later, saying there was no “failure” as defined by court rules. He said problems had been “reviewed, addressed and resolved” and that new training and procedures had been put in place.
“Leon County residents put significant faith and trust into the office, and the leaders and employees of the office work every day to meet and exceed that faith and trust,” Jazil wrote.
Jazil also said concerns about the Clerk’s Office stemmed from surges in case filings and staffing shortages.
The Clerk’s Office saw a big exodus of employees from 2024 through March 2025, with at least four dozen quitting and another dozen plus laid off or fired, according to exclusive reporting by the Democrat, which culled public records and interviewed former staff.
The departures amounted to nearly 45% of the agency’s workforce of around 140 people. However, the Clerk’s Office told the Democrat that it had only nine vacancies as of mid-August.
During the legislative delegation meeting, Knight said her office was not able to give its employees cost-of-living raises this year. She said her minimum salary is $16 an hour, below what Chic-fil-A and Amazon pay.
Knight said clerk’s offices from across Florida will have a policy bill to address financial shortfalls and said she would appreciate the co-sponsorship of lawmakers.
“To decrease our shortfall, the long-term solution is straight-forward: increase our revenues,” she said. “The budget shortfalls have expanded year after year, this year alone equaling $75 million.”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Amid litany of complaints, court clerk says her office faces directive from chief judge
Reporting by Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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