Aug 9, 2019 4 min read

An audit of prothonotary’s office financial records completed this month by the Washington County controller revealed a backlog in processing filing fees for judgment liens, money that should have made its way more quickly to both the county and the state.

The backlog, related to liens filed with the prothonotary by the clerk of courts office against criminal defendants who were assessed fines and costs, reached $101,588 as of Dec. 31 of last year.

Prothonotary Joy Schury Ranko said as of Thursday, the backlog has shrunk to $40,679. The controller’s most recent records showed the amount in the clerk of courts escrow account at $76,000 as of June 30.

According to the audit finding and recommendation, the clerk of courts is permitted by law to file for the judgment, the cost of which is $29.75 per case, unless a defendant pays all fines and costs immediately upon sentencing. Most defendants set up payment plans, many of which could last for years.

The clerk of courts is required to file the judgment for the costs and fees owed, said Kathy Tarr, audit manager for the controller’s office, and provide the prothonotary with a listing of fees paid.

The clerk of courts then must wait for the prothonotary to verify the amounts due toward the judgments filed.

Then-Prothonotary Phyllis Ranko Matheny last invoiced the clerk of courts in May 2015. Schury Ranko was elected prothonotary that year, and she took office in January 2016.

Deputy Controller Cathy Sams stressed that the money is not missing. It has gone into a clerk of courts bank account since May 2015, accumulating $101,588 at the close of the 2018 audit.

“It is all accounted for,” Sams said.

Schury Ranko said she began handling reports for criminal defendants’ judgment liens as a clerk in the prothonotary’s office in 2003, and continued with the task when she became deputy prothonotary.

Her taking office as the elected official coincided with the retirement of two staff members, and she said in response to the audit that she prioritized the training of new employees in the daily operations of the office, a clearinghouse for Common Pleas Court handling a variety of civil litigation, including lawsuits, divorces, child custody and protection-from-abuse petitions.

“Every elected official has the right to hire, fire and supervise their staff in their office, essentially, to the extent the law provides,” said Joshua Hatfield, Washington County finance director.

Schury Ranko said she recently streamlined the process related to the $29.75 judgment filing fees through a new coding system to reduce the backlog.

“The prior administration did not have an effective way to assess these fees” and track installment payments of fines and costs, Schury Ranko wrote in her formal response to the audit finding. Her new method will allow for the assessment of all clerk of court judgment fees at the time the judgment is filed.

“Prior to these developments, the previous process was very time intensive,” she wrote.

Both Controller Michael Namie and Hatfield want to see the movement of funds expedited so the money can be included in the fees the prothonotary turns over to the county as well as the state.

“Because of the backlog at the prothonotary’s office, moneys in the clerk of courts are not being realized at the state level or at the county level,” Hatfield said Thursday.

“The prothonotary has to receive it on her end, and she’s the one who sends it to us.”

Hatfield said the prothonotary and clerk of courts offices “have to work together,” as Schury Ranko indicated in her streamlining of the process.

Also included in each $29.75 filing fee is $5 for the prothonotary’s automation fund, which, according to the audit, contained $59,599 at the end of last year.

“My goal in my next term is to begin electronic filing,” said Schury Ranko, a Democrat who is running for a second, four-year term against Republican Laura Hough in the Nov. 5 general election. Even with the introduction of e-filing, the public and attorneys can use paper documents if they prefer.

The prothonotary’s office took in a total of $1.8 million in 2018, disbursing nearly $647,300 to the county and $142,226 to the state.