Polk Clerk Stacy Butterfield honored for helping clerks statewide secure increased funding

Polk County Clerk of Court Stacy Butterfield recently received the Legislative Impact Award from the statewide Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers association.

Butterfield served as the FCCC legislative chair in 2023 and 2024. Representing all 68 county clerks and comptrollers, the chair and legislative committee work with the Florida Legislature on priority issues, according to a news release from the Polk Clerk’s office.

Over the past two years, the legislative committee has largely focused on funding issues. The association said that the state’s funding mechanism did not provide sufficient money to cover all the services clerks’ offices are required to provide.

The Legislature passed a bill in 2023 that yielded $16.1 million for clerks’ offices, the release said. Another bill passed this year will bring another $28.8 million in funding.

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The legislation allows clerks to retain more of the money they collect from court costs and fees, while also providing flexibility for improving court technology and providing a mechanism for reimbursement for certain public services, the release said.

“Clerk Butterfield gathered consensus bringing stakeholders to the table to discuss our shared interests and pulling off another successful session,” Barry Baker, Suwannee County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller and the FCCC’s 2023-24 president, said in the release. “This clerk generously gave an extraordinary amount of her time and talent to represent all clerks, and this is why Stacy Butterfield deserves the Legislative Impact Award.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk Clerk Stacy Butterfield honored for helping clerks statewide secure increased funding