District Court Judge updates HC Quorum Court on year-to-date cases and revenue

Monday morning during the Howard County Quorum Court Meeting. District Court Judge, Jessica Steele Gunter made a presentation to the quorum court about the Howard County Chief Clerk and 2 Howard County deputies receiving pay raises in the upcoming budget. She provided information of the pay scales of clerks and deputies, in the neighboring counties.

Sevier county has the highest paid clerk at $44,824, with the Howard County Clerk earning $30, 809.91. While Sevier county district court deputies make an average of $33,500 annually, the Howard County deputies make $29,385.01. She said she wanted to present this information so the quorum court could see why her staff deserved a raise. 

Gunter also provided a report on caseloads and she let the quorum court know that revenue is an all time high. The report broke down the number of caseloads and funds collected from January of 2015 up to August of 2022. In 2015 there were 2,833 caseloads and $385,337.71 was collected. In 2020 the caseloads started going down due to the COVID outbreak, but Gunter stated that the numbers are getting back on track. Through the month of August, there were 2,497 cases and $414,325.37 was collected. 

She also presented a garnishment form that can be filled out by the employer and returned. This method will allow any payments owed to the Howard County District Court to be automatically received.