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Clerk of Courts Davis protesting office relocation out of the courthouse

5 min read
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Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

The new Clerk of Courts office in the Courthouse Square office building has four desks situated behind a large counter for attorneys and members of the public to file court paperwork.

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Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Inside the new Clerk of Courts location in Courthouse Square, there are two private offices and a secure room next to large filing cabinets that can be rolled back and forth to store the court filings.

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Brenda Davis

Washington County Clerk of Courts Brenda Davis is protesting her office’s impending move out of the courthouse and into a neighboring building, but her complaints fell on deaf ears with the president judge who ordered the relocation.

County and court officials over the past two years have been moving several row offices – such as the register of wills and the prothonotary – to the nearby Courthouse Square county office building to make room inside the courthouse for a seventh judge and other departments.

President Judge John DiSalle notified the county commissioners in a March 1 letter that he intended to move Domestic Violence Services out of the courthouse basement and into the current Clerk of Courts office on the main floor. Such a change necessitated moving the Clerk of Courts office and its staff to the second floor of Courthouse Square where the elections office previously was, which will be near the prothonotary in order to have a centralized filing location for court records.

But Davis soon began pushing back on the relocation after being contacted by the commissioners in a March 15 letter informing her of the court’s intention to move her office. In a letter DiSalle sent to Davis last month, he notified her that the move would take place during the Juneteenth holiday weekend from June 17 to 19 when the courthouse is closed, with the expectation that her new office would be available June 20.

When Davis asked for a meeting to further discuss the issue, DiSalle filed an order Monday directing Davis and her staff to facilitate the move. Davis responded Tuesday asking for a motion of reconsideration, prompting DiSalle to schedule a hearing Friday to listen to her concerns. The hearing became testy as Davis complained about the new office’s furniture and her apparent inability to load boxes and transport them.

“I’m not going over the minutia of the move,” DiSalle said. “You have to figure that out yourself.”

DiSalle said Davis had issued a “list of demands” in her May 31 letter, and that the new office is being set up to cater to the needs of the office. Davis responded that she was worried about the timeline to move, while also raising concerns about how she and her three-person staff will physically pack and transport the voluminous court filings.

“We have four AARP-aged females who cannot carry and unpack (hundreds of boxes),” Davis told DiSalle. “We need the help.”

DiSalle said courthouse officials offered to have summer interns help pack boxes and relocate them to the new office.

After the hearing, court Administrator Patrick Grimm said he’s communicated with Davis about the need for staffing help to make the move, which the court would provide to her. He added that court officials met with Davis on May 30 to discuss the move, which may have led to her sending a letter complaining about the move the following day.

“We have the staff. We’ll help,” Grimm said. “We’ll get it packed up. We’ll get it unpacked.”

A brief tour of the new Clerk of Courts office the county’s facilities staff gave to a reporter following the hearing showed a comfortable work environment with four desks situated behind a large counter for attorneys and members of the public to file court paperwork. Farther back are two private offices and a secure room next to large filing cabinets that can be rolled back and forth to store the court filings. The total space is 2,139 square feet compared to the current office that is only 1,523 square feet, according to county officials.

At the end of the 20-minute hearing, Davis appeared to want to discuss more issues, but DiSalle said the order was final and it was time to move forward with the relocation.

“I have a few more things on my list,” Davis said.

“I’m not going over your list,” DiSalle responded.

DiSalle then amended his order to include language that security cameras must remain in place in the current office and new office after Davis was recently seen on video climbing a ladder to unplug a camera for unknown reasons. DiSalle said the cameras are needed in any office that handles money from the public, and that if Davis “tampers” with the surveillance videos again, she’ll be held in contempt of court.

DiSalle previously held Davis in contempt of court last August and ordered her to serve 15 days in the Washington County jail after she defied his order on Nov. 24, 2021, and physically blocked sheriff’s deputies from transferring juvenile court filings from her office to Juvenile Probation.

Regardless, Davis won’t be spending much time in her new office space. Davis, who won election in 2019, will be leaving as Clerk of Courts when her term expires at the end of the year after she lost the Republican primary last month to challenger Ray Phillips, who will face Democrat Bobby Dellorso in the November general election.

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