Bill to limit court clerks from pocketing passport fees advances

Feb. 22—ATLANTA — A Senate committee voted Wednesday to advance state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick's bill to limit passport fee receipts by Georgia clerks of court.

As the east Cobb Republican noted, the operative word is now "limit," rather than "eliminate." An earlier version of the legislation would have barred clerks of court from receiving personal income from processing U.S. passport applications, which is currently allowed under Georgia law.

The latest version of the bill would cap their income from passport fees at $7,500 per year.

Senate Bill 19 was filed after media investigations into Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor, who has pocketed more than $425,000 in fees since taking office atop her annual income of $170,000. Federal regulations allow local officials who process passport applications to charge a $35 fee for their trouble, while Georgia law permits county clerks who do so to keep that money as personal income.

The practice is widespread across the state, but Taylor's proceeds drew scrutiny from Republican lawmakers who pledged to put an end to the supplementary income.

Taylor, meanwhile, is facing a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe following allegations she ordered the destruction of records of her passport fee income.

The original version of the bill would have directed all of the passport fee proceeds to be split evenly between the county coffers and the clerk's office, eliminating the personal income.

But Kirkpatrick said — as a number of clerks looked on from the audience — that after conversations with clerks of court around the state, she decided to amend the bill to the $7,500 cap.

Another tweak is that while a 50-50 split for the county and clerk's office will be the default, that arrangement can be changed through local legislation or a written agreement between the two offices. The new version keeps the requirement that clerks provide written reports of fee receipts to the county on a regular basis.

State Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, proposed an amendment to increase the cap to $15,000, which she pitched as "a reasonable compromise."

"I think seven is too low," she said.

Said state Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, "I think seven is too high."

Albers at another point argued clerks had unjustly enjoyed special treatment under the existing state law.

"Why would we pay one group additional personal compensation to fulfill a duty, which is to serve the taxpayers no matter what that job is?" Albers asked.

Responded Kirkpatrick: "I think that's actually the entire reason that this bill has come forward."

Merritt's proposal to increase the cap to $15,000 failed 6-6 along party lines, after Government Oversight Committee Chairman Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, broke the tie to defeat it.

Kirkpatrick's version of the bill then carried with bipartisan support. Democratic Gwinnett County state Sens. Merritt, Sheikh Rahman, and Nabilah Islam (the latter two of Lawrenceville) were the three votes against.

Kirkpatrick told the MDJ she hopes for a vote by the full Senate next week.

Asked what she made of the strong showing from the clerks of court, she said, "Well, I'm sure they're very interested in it, because it affects their way of doing business."