Page 124 - Fort Worth City Budget 2019

General Fund

part of the Marshal Division, includes four deputy city marshals and one senior deputy city marshal, which have
responsibility for patrolling approximately 3,560 acres of the Lake Worth recreational area, the Fort Worth Nature
Center and Refuge, area leased-property neighborhoods and 14 surrounding city-owned parks.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The following are major accomplishments for the FY18 budget period:
• Outstanding success of the Warrant Forgiveness initiative and Courts in the Community program to
demystify the courts while substantially increasing public outreach. This event included a city-wide
partnership with the court and other city departments. The court conducted over fifteen Court in the
Community events, which resulted in the clearance of over 25,000 outstanding Class “C” warrants.
• The department has made major improvements within the court systems to improve the overall
experience. These include the new software that improves timeliness of service, a data clean-up project
for more reliable data, and the launch of an online chat tool to improve customer services.
• The department continues to make great strides in training staff with the launch of an internal eLearning
program for staff training and knowledge retention. Additionally, seven Clerk of Court staff have
completed certification with the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center, all deputy marshals have
completed legislatively-mandated court security training, and 29 deputies hold Master Peace Office
certificates.
• Transfer of magistration duties for all Class B and higher charges at 350 Belknap to Tarrant County as
required by State law.
• Court Financial Management team was recognized by the city’s’ Chief Financial Officer for their results, of
a change drawer audit at CFW Municipal Court, to be considered a model example for how cash funds
should be handled.
• The department reorganized and reallocated staff and existing space resulting in improved operations,
customer flow, quality of services, and more efficient use of facilities.

FY2019 DISCUSSION
The FY2019 Adopted Budget includes an adjustment to the FY2018 AP and FTE counts. The counts decrease by 2
APs and 2.00 FTEs due to the reduction of two municipal court judge positions, influenced by the decision of
Tarrant County to process class A and B misdemeanors and felonies under specific circumstances.

The FY2019 Adopted Budget includes a decrease of 7 APs and 7.00 FTEs from the FY2018 budget including four
customer services representative II, one senior customer service representative, one senior account technician
and one municipal court clerk due to lower court activity.

The reduction in the nine authorized positions is directly related to decreases in various fines, deferred
dispositions and penalty fees. Recent State legislation has strongly influenced Municipal Court’s emphasis for fine
payment alternatives statewide. Compliance, in conjunction with ability to pay assessments, is resulting in
increases in the number of cases resolved by means other than full payment, such as community service. While
the 2018 Warrant Forgiveness program impacted revenue, the total of all declining revenue is partially
attributable to the continued drop in filings with the court.

HORIZON ISSUES

The following are the current identified Horizon Issues for the Municipal Court:
• The successful launch of the e-Citation project will impact the future allocation of resources in the
department and is anticipated to reduce the number of data entry related issues.

124