Clerks tell task force legal‑advice limits, staffing and fee structures hamper service to the public

Snohomish County Clerk Heidi Piercy told the task force that clerks are restricted by court rules from giving legal advice and that inconsistent local procedures and limited staffing create public frustration. "We're not allowed to give legal advice... We can give them procedural advice and we do do that, but that doesn't always satisfy what they are requesting from us and it gets them frustrated," Piercy said.

Members also discussed the role of filing fees and fee waivers in court budgets. Sarah Robbins said she left a prior meeting convinced that many clerk offices rely on fees to cover basic infrastructure and that fee reliance can undermine equitable access. The group proposed examining fee waiver processes, cataloging what technology counties fund with fee revenue, and identifying state funding or policy changes that could relieve counties of essential operational costs being borne by litigants.