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Clerk Stacy Butterfield in red jacket with Clerk logo and the newsletter title - The Butterfield Brief

November 2022

Greetings, 


I hope you had a peaceful and revitalizing Thanksgiving with your loved ones. This year has certainly flown by. It's hard to believe that it's already December and that the holidays are here.


As this year comes to a close, I would like to thank you for making the year productive and successful as we all worked through it together. I have so much to look forward to next year.


I wish you a wonderful holiday season and may 2023 be your best year yet!


Sincerely,

Stacy M. Butterfield, CPA

Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

New Family Law and Civil Law Managers

Monica Carrasco,

Family Law Manager

Belinda Santiago,

Civil Law Manager

I'd like to introduce you to the new managers in our Family Law and Civil Law departments.


Monica Carrasco is our new Family Law manager. She has been a staple in our office for many years and has experience in all our divisions - Courts, Comptroller, and Administrative Services. She most recently served as the supervisor of our Trial Clerks department and has worked in our Support Services and Comptroller to the Board of County Commissioners departments. She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Polk State College. Monica replaces Tracy Beebe who recently retired after 34 years of service to our office.


Belinda Santiago is our new Civil Law Manager. She has 12 years of experience in our Civil Law department and was most recently a supervisor of the department. She also spent four years as the supervisor of our Northeast Branch. She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Southeastern University. Belinda is taking over for Sharon Doner, who also recently retired after 35 years of service to our office.

E-Filing Authority Debuts

New Public Access Site


The Florida Courts E-Filing Authority released its new public access website in October for all non-confidential, circuit civil case-initiating documents.


The site, titled “Statewide Non-Confidential Circuit Civil Filings,” provides public access to all circuit civil submissions over the past five days beginning with the newest first.


The public can examine case-initiating documents by creating a free account on the portal. Users can access the database by clicking the "Filing Access" option in the top right corner of the website after logging in.

Read On

New Northeast Government

Center Opens in January


The new Polk County Northeast Government Center is expected to open in January. The completion date as well as the moving dates have not been set. I will post information on my website as soon as I have a date. If you need to visit the northeast branch, please check my site to determine which location to visit. The new government center is located at 200 Government Center Blvd., Lake Alfred, FL 33850.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month


October was domestic violence awareness month. Our team helped raise awareness by joining the national movement - Wear Purple Thursday on Thursday, Oct. 20. We also joined with the Polk County Board of County Commissioners and Peace River Center to proclaim October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

New Filing Procedures for Evictions,

Must File According to Zipcode


The 10th Judicial Circuit issued Administrative Order No. 3-38.4 that changes the procedures for filing Landlord/Tenant Eviction cases. Cases are now categorized by the property’s zip code and must be filed at the courthouse designated for the zip code. Paperwork filed in the incorrect location will experience processing delays.

Learn More

Inspector General Department

Law Enforcement Accreditation


In August, the Clerk’s Department of Inspector General passed its second-ever peer review, performed by the Association of Inspectors General, a national organization. The department was also recently awarded our 2nd re-accreditation by the Florida Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation, under the Inspector General program.

Polk Records Online Tip


If your attorney login suddenly stops working, you can check your status with the Florida Bar. Our office receives a daily file of attorney data and if the status says anything except ‘Eligible to Practice Law in Florida’, your access to our system is disabled.

Upcoming Office Closures

Holiday

Office Closure Date(s)

Christmas Holiday

Friday, Dec. 23 and Monday, Dec. 26

New Year's Day (Observed)

Monday, Jan. 2

View Full Calendar

Updating Your Contact Information

Update your information using the form on our Legal Community web page.

Smartphone with reminder about upcoming court date.

Register for e-Notify

Setting up email and text notifications through e-Notify can help you and your clients stay up-to-date about court dates.

Smartphone with Find My Courtroom web page.

Find My Courtroom

Heading to court? Skip the line at the information desk and find your courtroom location online using Find My Courtroom.

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