Audit to lay groundwork for stable court funding.

An upcoming legislatively ordered audit of the Florida court system is not an attempt to damage the judicial branch but rather a way to seek improvements and perhaps lay the groundwork for more stable funding.

At least that's the way that Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, sees the proviso language included in the Legislature's General Appropriations Act for 2008-09.

The proviso directs the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to "conduct a study of workload management by circuit and county court judges" and report to the chief justice, and the chairs of the Senate Fiscal Policy and Calendar Committee and the House Budget and Policy Council by January 1.

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Crist, chair of the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, has sent a letter to Chief Justice Fred Lewis, with copies to other court officials inviting their help in setting up and overseeing the audit.

"I want to assure you up front that this is not meant to be an attack on our judges or the courts in any way, shape, or form," Crist wrote. "It is not our intention to embarrass any circuit or judge. In fact it is our goal to work with you, the Legislature, the Clerks Association [Florida Association of Court Clerks], the Florida Association of Counties, and those being reviewed to identify areas for improvement and good practices that can be expanded upon.

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"My hope is that this OPPAGA study will examine ways to improve the efficiency of our court system. These audits are standard procedure and are ordered by the Legislature on a regular basis. OPPAGA has been directed to work with you as well as the Legislature, the Clerks Association, and the Florida Association of Counties in crafting the scope of this review."

In an interview with the Bar News, Crist expanded on his letter.

"What we're looking for is what are different courts and different circuits doing that are effective in using time and resources and what are some doing that aren't effective and could be done better, and to begin to open some eyes to ways to get more out of less," he said.

"These kinds of audits are done every year. The Legislature created OPPAGA to do this and we send them into entities we fund to find ways to be more efficient. We've just never sent them into the courts before," Crist added.

One improvement that might be found, he said, is getting uniform software for operations in different circuits, which now use...