Pat Frank

This trip started off terrible. There was construction in front of the court-house blocking the parking garage we were supposed to park in. Nobodies fault just becomes a pain to get back when you have no idea where you're going and every street you want to take is a one-way going the opposite direction you'd like. At one point I almost turned around and went home. It was that frustrating.

That being said, it was well worth the frustration. The tour started off with an older, very soft spoken, sweet lady. Little did I know this women was Pat Frank, the Chief Financial Officer of Hillsborough County and the Clerk of the County Courts.

She seemed to have by far the most knowledge of any speaker thus far. It was quite obvious that she also was very passionate about her job and cared deeply for her employees.

There was pain in her face when explaining the closing of the other government office on Florida Ave, causing a cut in jobs and an 8% decrease in pay for the ones who kept their job.

A common misconception is that government employees don't work hard nor earn their pay. Seeing the lines the workers were dealing with, I promise at the courthouse, that isn't true.

I was amazed at how much access the public had at public records at the court house. There were computers throughout the building that gave access to things like arrest records, court documents, and divorce or domestic abuse cases. Mrs. Frank informed us that arrest records are the most often requested documents.

If a case is deemed "high-profile" by the Chief Judge, it will be posted online at there web site. The Internet has made things much easier for people searching for public records. Anything current is scanned into computers, but the older stuff is still in warehouses across Tampa. This all depends on what record your searching for. The fact that we haven't scanned everything into a computer was amazing. Pat Frank talked about how if a hurricane with winds higher than 110 mph came through, all of those records would be lost. I don't know if anyone realizes this, but we are in Florida. This seems almost inevitable.

She really put things in perspective with hiring new judges. I didn't realize for every judge hired there needed to be three clerks also hired. I'm sure this knowledge would change a lot of the public perspective also.

Overall, I really enjoyed this visit. Besides the parking, it was very informative. Pat Frank had a lot to say and our tour guide so to speak, Dana Caranante, did a great job at showing us around the very bland but important building. Of all presentations thus far, I would say try to keep this one. Next semester I'd imagine their not being the same traffic or construction. Then again, this is Florida, maybe I should say three semester from now.

Until next time.