Judge orders closure of clerks' offices weekly

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Budget cuts strike again in Mobile County and around Alabama. The cuts could affect you if you go to court.

OFFICES CLOSED

Circuit and District Court Clerks offices around Alabama will now be closed to the public every Wednesday.

Clerk’s offices process paper, work from subpoenas to divorces.

Mobile Attorney Dean Waite said, "I think it will have an effect on people who are having to pay criminal fines and things like that. They're not going to be able to go down there and do that on Wednesdays. So, it will delay those kinds of things."

PAY THOSE TRAFFIC TICKETS

Mobile County Circuit Court Clerk JoJo Schwarzauer said, "In paying traffic tickets, a lot of people will wait until the last minute, and they really need to take closing into consideration."

In other words, don't wait to the last day to pay a traffic ticket.

KNOW SOMEONE IN JAIL?

One Mobile attorney said there could be bigger effects in more serious cases.

William "Jay" Casey said, "In emergency situations, it’s going to hurt a lot. If somebody's in jail and you're trying to get them out of jail, it could hurt that."

GENERAL INCONVENIENCE

Schwarzauer said people trying to get information on an ongoing court case may have to fend for themselves.

"You have so many people who come down here for court that really don't know where they're going, so they have to come up here and ask the personnel where to go, and they're not able to do that today so they're on their own,” he said. "It'll affect a lot of folks that don't have attorneys.  If they go down there and try to get information, they're not going to be able to get it."

DEALING WITH THE CLOSINGS

Even though the clerk’s offices are closed, there is a drop box in the lobby in front of Mobile's Circuit Court.

Some said there could actually be some benefits.

The clerks and their staff will be working to clear up backlogs and take care of other work caused in part by layoffs due to budget cuts two years ago.

Schwarzauer said there are six rooms filled with files that need to be scanned and other work that needs to be done.

She said, "We've got an evidence room that's got evidence in there from 1970.  We need to put new evidence in there."

THE FUTURE

The Wednesday closures will remain in effect indefinitely.

The chairman of the Alabama Senate Finance Committee has said legislators are working on trying to get some additional money to the judicial system.